The Final Days
by Wedjatqi
Summary: Atlantis’ return to Earth sparks off the continuation of an ancient battle that requires the skills of those from Atlantis, but it will lead to the most painful of consequences for one member of the team. Post Enemy at the Gate.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter: **1

**Rating: **M

**Spoilers:** Season 5 – Set after Enemy At The Gate.

**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate universe and I make no money from this.

**Notes:** And yes, before any of you ask, I am now also working on continuing The Questioning Way :)

-------

The darkness lingered into his consciousness again, as it had so often before. He lifted into it, searching the air around him for what had woken him. Occasionally a stray creature would find him, usually stepping around him with wary caution. If he was inclined to reach out, breaking the deep sleep for a moment, he would drain them. Once or twice the creature had turned out to be a human who, like the vermin, had strayed far too deep into the unknown. Those moments of nourishment were appreciated, but he did not always bother. He preferred to sleep as much as he could and let the deep stillness contain his strength for as long as possible. So, gently he surfaced once again, seeking what may present a short meal.

Voices, numerous and vibrant sparkled into him and he woke in an instant to the chorus of his kind. Excitement burned his way out of the deep sleep. So long he had waited for his kind and the brilliance of their combined minds was the sweetest elixir he could ever have tasted.

With a roar of triumph he loosened the supports around him and dropped down into the chamber beneath him. Dust burst up into the air around him as he landed in what had once been his most secret of homes. Laughing in mad delight he reached out towards the voices, to the minds that danced on the edge of his consciousness.

Something was wrong though. They did not respond, and perhaps had not even heard his call. Angered by the slight, he forced his mind out further, but once again he found the doors closed. Grunting in distaste he withdrew his mind; he would find them by foot then.

With another swirl of thick dust he turned and strode away, seeking the path his victims had used to enter his sleeping place.

-----

The thickness of sleep hung onto her, a heavy weight that had to be shrugged off with effort. Something had stirred her, something itching in her head, telling her not only that she must wake, but that her days ahead were to be, as ever, challenging.

Dim yellow light shone over her eyelids and she opened them to the familiar sight. A mechanical hiss spoke of the last dying remains of the connection, leaving her once again on her own and in the full light of consciousness.

With a sigh she pulled her arms free of the soft cushions that had supported her during her long sleep. Her arms free she reached up, slowly, and triggered the hatch above her, and true light streamed into her sleeping hole. With the light on her face she pulled herself up and out, back into the world.

She did not need to know why she had woken, for she could feel them. Bitterness at this fact was as strong inside her as was the heavy reluctance that she hated about herself. Stepping out into the cool air she reached for her small collection of items, the technology activating for her. Information streamed over the display and it was with some relief that, this time, she saw that the world had advanced considerably during her recent sleep.

The bitterness fell away from her as she left her chamber, her strength and determination returning once again. She paused briefly to look back at the place that had been hers for so long, protecting her as she slept over and over again through the ages. As she closed up the seal she knew that she would never use it again; this would be her last mission.

------

The afternoon light was lowering outside the wide glass windows, and Teyla watched as a white cloud drifted across the lone alien sun. The laughter beside her drew her attention away from the beautiful distant sight and back into the discussion around her.

The meal had been very enjoyable and the company, as always, was enjoyable. The restaurant had reserved a private room for the group and they had been here all afternoon enjoying the food and each other's company. For it was not so often that they were all together anymore.

She looked round at the sea of faces set around the long table. They had all served in Atlantis, but that was not necessarily true anymore. Atlantis had been relocated to a designated International area of the wide ocean John told her was called the Pacific. Since then half of the staff had been relocated to their home lands and those that remained spent half of their time travelling back and forward from the city. Not that the city was empty. No, in fact each morning Jumpers brought in large contingents of scientists and experts to study the city. On occasion Teyla felt as if they studied her as closely. She had been interviewed more times than she cared to count, but they appeared happy for her to remain in the city. She had asked many times when Atlantis would be returning to Pegasus, but no answer had been forthcoming, and whether it would was the current topic of conversation around her.

"I'm just saying, IOA aside, the military is going to be reluctant to let the city leave. Now the chair has been destroyed, it's the only defence the planet has against any major invasion." Major Lorne stated as he swirled the deep red coloured wine around in his glass.

"The IOA is still in command of the city and it will be their decision." Colonel Samantha Carter stated gently, a line she had repeated many times over the past six months. "Mr Woolsey is still in control of the city and he knows how important Pegasus is to us all." The woman's bright blue eyes settled on Teyla briefly. Teyla had always respected the woman, but since Atlantis' return to Earth, Teyla had had more contact with the Colonel. Sam had been commanding an Earth ship, until she had learnt she was pregnant. Reassigned to Earth she was now, once again, heavily involved with Atlantis and the two of them had struck up a friendship forged in regularly sharing lunchtime meals in the city's Mess Hall and talking of children.

The reminder made Teyla look round to the small play area that the restaurant had set up in one corner of the private room. Torren looked round at her, almost as if he had felt her attention, and with a small smile he got up onto his feet and began to walk over to the table. He was only just now able to walk unaided and he seemed quite determined in progressing to running. Teyla watched him, a little nervously, as he stomped his way towards the table, and paused behind the back of the closest chair. Teyla smiled as Torren stared up, his head tilted right back, at Ronon's back above him. Teyla felt Torren had still not gotten over the change to his uncle's appearance. Ronon had returned to the city one day with his long locks of hair cut away, leaving short straight hair. Torren hadn't recognised him at first and had cried. Ronon, who remained pleased with the loss of the weight of his hair, had seemed regretful about upsetting Torren.

Torren moved around Ronon's chair and reached up, expecting someone to notice him and lift him. Teyla smiled at the innocence of youth, but sure enough Torren was almost immediately lifted up. Teyla looked down the table to see that Carson had lifted her son up onto his lap. Torren sat there happily enough, eyeing up the dessert remains on everyone's plates. Everyone seemed to love her son and their continued interest in Torren warmed her heart. It seemed that whenever someone from Atlantis visited her they brought a toy for Torren. He was becoming rather spoiled in Teyla's mind, though she knew she would never deny him anything.

Happy her son was comfortable she returned to the conversation.

"…with what we're learning from Atlantis now, it will be no time till we can make our own." Rodney was stating around his fourth serving of sticky pudding. Beside him Jennifer leant across the table offering the remains of her fruit salad to Torren.

"Rodney, there is still a lot to learn before we get anywhere close to recreating our own version of a Jumper." Sam replied, her tone measured. Teyla watched the blonde woman exchange an amused glance with John. It was clear to Teyla that John was not the only one who took great amusement in handling Rodney.

"We'll get there and now that we finally have enough people to properly study the city…" Rodney added.

"It'll take years to properly study the whole city, Rodney." John interrupted.

"Which is why they'll _never_ let us take it back to Pegasus." Rodney returned as he dropped his fork down into his empty bowl with a flourish.

"Rodney." John warned gently and Teyla felt the subtle tension grow around her that always appeared when the subject of not returning to Pegasus came up in conversation. Teyla knew they were all concerned for her and wanted her to be able to return 'home', and they felt for her as it may never happen. Or if it were to, then she may only be granted a lift home on an Earth ship and the city would remain. If that day arrived, then she would be saying goodbye to them. All that and more filled the pause in conversation, all eyes on her, though they tried not to.

Teyla smiled at Rodney as he spluttered an apology towards her. "Not that I think they'll _never_ go back." She lifted a hand towards him, amused herself at his pained expression. "In fact didn't they say they're sending the Daedalus back soon?"

"Not any time soon, they're still off on that super secret mission." Carson interjected, grunting slightly as Torren levered himself off the man's lap and onto Ronon's. Ronon caught the boy up and lifted him up high and planted a large 'raspberry' against Torren's belly. Everyone carried on talking, all used to Torren's presence.

"Where did they go?" Rodney asked as he helped himself to the last remains of the fruit salad that even Torren hadn't wanted.

"'Super secret' Rodney." John replied with heavy sarcasm.

"I heard it was something to do with heading over to the Ancient's original galaxy." Lorne added as he set aside his wine glass and reached for the tall jug of coffee. "Word has it they're planning some new expedition."

"Well, if they are we're not included that's for sure." Rodney muttered.

"Bored of Earth already?" John asked.

"No, with the city here there's enough work to keep me busy indefinitely and I never say that."

The door opened behind them admitting one of the waiters, and with his presence all conversation on work stopped.

"Has everything been satisfactory?" He asked with a smile as he approached the table. Everyone chorused back that it had been a great meal. "Then who would like to be in charge of this?" The man asked with a smile as he lifted the plate in his hand, on which sat the small folder that would hold the bill.

Everyone laughed, suggesting each other, but John reached out for the plate. As the waiter retreated John lifted the folder and set the plate in the centre of the table. Rodney was the first into the small mints piled up upon the silver plate, but John caught the second and was already offering it to Torren. Torren climbed on off Ronon's lap and onto John's to eat the mint.

Everyone began dividing up the bill, the usual jokes about Rodney's eating habits playing out. Teyla watched Torren, sitting happily on John's lap beside her, as he munched carefully on the thin chocolate mint. Torren seemed to enjoy these trips out of the city and Earth culture was equally as fascinating to her, but today she was looking forward to returning to Atlantis. Payment arranged between them all, John stood up, taking Torren with him, and went out to pay the bill. Teyla suspected Torren would return with some new sweet treat. John seemed the worst in spoiling him, though he did so subtly. Torren had accompanied John on many Jumper trips and had 'helped out' in meetings and in John's rounds around the city when it was quiet.

Once everyone had gathered their coats and had all made their way out of the restaurant the sun was sinking quickly, and the bright dark colours spread out across the clear sky above. Teyla paused, her hands buried deep into the pockets of her Earth coat, and stared up at the sky above her. She truly enjoyed these meals together, but by the end of the meal she always found herself feeling rather sad. Tonight, it felt worse for some reason. As she watched the dark dot of a plane travel across the sky, the trails streaking out behind it, she realised that a new subtle anxiety had formed inside her which had nothing to do with saying goodbye to good friends. With a sigh she released a heavy breath. Perhaps it was that she agreed with Major Lorne and Rodney; the city would never return to Pegasus. She had been so hopeful, but she was beginning to lose that hope perhaps. In some ways she was glad though that the Daedalus had not returned to offer a 'lift home', for then she would have to choose between staying here and leaving. She suspected that leaving now would mean that she wouldn't see her friends from Earth for a very long time, perhaps never again.

"You okay?" John asked beside her.

She smiled at him and Torren. Everyone else had said their goodbyes and only those returning to Atlantis remained.

"I am fine. Tired." Teyla told him as she reached for her son. The need to hold Torren was strong, for too often she had dreamt that she had left him behind in Pegasus. She hated the thought of never seeing her people again, or that her home galaxy had been left with no support against the Wraith. Though, at the same time, she had all she needed here. She could lead a happy enough life on Earth she guessed, but that did not feel right. Kanaan agreed on that, as for him, having been separated from their people was a heavy burden. She had people around her she trusted and loved, but he had only her and Torren. Teyla had tried to persuade him that he needed to do more in the city, try to get to know those from this planet. He hadn't quite meshed with her friends and she had begun to suspect that Kanaan did not wish to know them that well. These past months had been a heavy strain on her relationship with him and she feared that soon it would reach a point where strong words would be exchanged.

Torren a comforting weight in her arms, she turned from John's slightly worried expression to the big black car that would take them all back to the base and from there John would fly them back to the city via Jumper. She considered John's almost constant presence in the city to have been a major factor in her surviving the isolation of the city. John was still in command of the military defence of Atlantis and, others had told her, he had received considerable recognition from his superiors for his work. She had to wonder if he had been offered a new station somewhere else, perhaps the SGC, but he remained in the city. She had asked him only last week why he chose to stay and he had joked that he felt it was his home. It was a sentiment she and Ronon shared with him. Though Teyla still considered herself Athosian and wished to see her people again, Atlantis had been her real home for almost six years. John had told her that she could live out of the city on the mainland of his home country if she wished, but she had decided, like him and Ronon, to remain. For her she felt she had to stay, as if leaving the city would lessen the chances of it returning to Pegasus.

Seated in the second row of seats in the car, Teyla watched the road darken outside the vehicle as they left the restaurant's car park and headed out into the busy road. Torren had fallen asleep in his little car seat and the car was quiet with the ease of strong friendships. Teyla stroked her son's hair from his sleeping face and looked out the front to the passing cars, trucks and landscape outside. The shadows became sharp and angular as the sun finally sent its final light across the road and then it was dark.

-------

The moon was dull tonight, casting strange ghost shadows across the car park as Nadine stumbled out of the club. She had had her fill of that lot tonight. Navy boys were enjoyable enough, but they could so love themselves. She smiled at her observation as she made her way across the flat broken pavement. She was pretty sure she had parked somewhere round here. After a few beers she was a little fuzzy on the details, but then after a long afternoon with the girls in the bar, as they had waited for the navy boys to arrive, had needed the entertainment.

She around the building, the heavy thick scents of alcohol dimming away with the music, and into the lot. The cars, all parked in neat lines, all looked the same colour in the moonlight. Grumbling, she tottered around the first line, peering at each car in turn. In the distance she could hear the sea and, even at this late hour, the boring old sounds of the working docks. Muttering she moved on to the second line of cars. She was probably over the limit she realised as she caught herself from falling over a bike. But, she laughed it off; she could get out of any ticket a cop wanted to give her. She had 'persuaded' many a kind cop out of a ticket, offering many favours in return for them forgetting her. Sometimes, in her more sober moments, she had to wonder if she drove drunk just to get a cop to pull her over.

She paused, leaning against a door of a red pickup. The happy thickness of alcohol was dying away and the deep depths of depression began to stir. She considered going back in for another beer or two. The club was a simple black outline across the lot, the light and sounds seeping out around the corner. She had so hoped to have found some nice navy boy by now, but she always seemed to end up just having a 'good night', waking up with a heavy head and the stale taste of alcohol in her mouth. So many good nights and somehow, without her knowing how, she was almost thirty five and she had nothing to show for herself. That had never bothered her before, but tonight, as the moon disappeared behind another thick cloud, she found herself unable to deny the heaviness of her heart.

She looked up at the dull grey blue crescent of the moon just visible through the dark grey clouds. Maybe she should have listened to her mom and stayed back home. She could have stayed working on the farm and, hell, being married to that farm boy her family had picked out for her might not have been all that bad. Maybe it wasn't too late. She could call mom tomorrow, say she was going to be passing by home. A good home cooked meal seemed so appealing right then. Someone to love her.

A brief thump of a sound broke her out of her lost thoughts and she looked over towards the dumpster, her heart pounding suddenly. It was probably a drunk. They were always digging through the dumpsters in hope of some left over booze or bits of food. She stared at the dark shadows obscuring the dumpster and, though she could see nothing there, a feeling of fear, like she had never felt before, flushed through her heart and she felt the rush of energy into her body. Something primitive and very real told her that she needed to get to her car now.

She turned and stumbled away, now abruptly remembering the car was in the last line of the lot. She hurried through the cars, her eyes filling with tears as she kept looking back over her shoulder with growing panic. Something was following her she was sure of it, though she couldn't see anything moving in the shadows. She ran on though, as fast as her four inch heels could take her. One ankle went out from under her, but she caught herself. The sharp pain of the twisted ankle was lost in her fear as she reached down and ripped off the shoe. She froze, the worn high heel shoe held in her hand like a weapon. The shadows had stretched right across the lot now and she could see less than before.

Panting, afraid and annoyed at herself all at once she edged backwards. She had always laughed at people who had talked about sixth sense before. Those were the thoughts of people who had the time to sit around all day and daydream she had said, but now she knew it was all true. She could see nothing around her, hear nothing out of place, but she knew without any doubt that she was being hunted. She was prey. It was an ancient and powerful knowledge that told her that she was about to be killed, and though she would fight as best as she could she knew she had no hope. What was after her was stronger than her and she had wasted her life. She had no idea how to fight it away. Tears poured down her cheeks with those dark thoughts, as she circled in the darkness. She should have stayed home. Why did she leave? All those horrid things she had said to her mom! She wished she could take it all back right now.

A scrape of gravel behind her was her only warning and she turned to see the grey shape descending on her. She thrust out with the high heel and felt it embed in the thing and she felt a moment of exhilaration, before her hand and the shoe were knocked away. The clouds lifted from the moon then and she saw the face of the creature, watched as it drew back its hand. She took a deep breath, felt her mouth open to let out a scream that would be as primitive as the fear in her veins, but the palm thudded against her chest and she finally really had nothing else to give.

-----  
TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter: **2

-------

The air was cool against her skin as she sat and watched the dark night. She watched the moon slip behind another long line of clouds, lengthening the shadows and deepening the ocean around her.

She stared out at the wide ocean as she swung her bare feet through the cool air that breezed over the edge of the pier. Of course this ocean was not as vast as on the other planets Atlantis had sat upon, and the depths of the dark water below her held a whole new host of creatures. She folded herself over, looking down the high length of the pier wall upon which she sat. The water crashed rather gently tonight against the metal beneath her. She was too far up for the water's splash to reach her, but she could taste and feel the water misting in the air around her. If she were to fall from here the fall would be dangerous, though most likely survivable, but she was not afraid.

Teyla watched the dark swells of water beneath her and dreamed of the creatures that lived below her. John had taken her and Torren to a Seaworld last month, where she had gazed on creatures so alien to her that she had been as stunned as Torren, perhaps more so. She had marvelled at the pictures and videos of the massive whales and sharks that were in danger of extinction, and she had surmised that her fascination in these creatures was shared by most on this world, though others exhibited that fascination in other more deadly ways. Who could not be amazed by the creatures that lived their entire lives in an environment we could not and some of which could kill us so easily? Under the water humans were no longer the greatest hunter on this world; they became prey.

The moonlight darkened then, and she looked up to see the shadows around her had thickened. The wide beautiful landscape of the city felt abruptly dangerous. Below her the water crashed louder against the pier and she found herself imagining a massive shark leaping up to grab her bare feet and drag her down into the depths. She had the urge to pull her feet back from the edge, but she did not; it was only fear. She was safe here, but she caught herself staring down into the dark water, looking to glimpse the suggestion of a fin or darker shadow under the surface. Somehow, though she could see nothing, she felt something was down there hunting and it worried her.

She lifted her feet, setting her slightly dampened soles on the edge of the pier and wrapped her arms around her legs. A stronger breeze was stirring and she huddled against it. The air seemed colder now; the ease and enjoyment she had been taking pleasure in had gone. Around her shadows clung to the lines of the Ancestor built architecture of the city. In this light the long curved lines of shadows reminded her of the inside of a Wraith ship. It stirred the ever present fear that the Wraith would find them. On Earth people felt free of the Wraith, believing them limited to Pegasus, but what if they spread?

She reached out with her mind, searching for Wraith and, as usual, she felt a presence; Todd's presence. He was imprisoned in the city and his constant presence, though normally ignored by her, was always there if she felt for it. She felt him now; just a sense, for no deeper connection was necessary or wanted by her. She doubted that Todd could even feel her touch, for she had tested it around him and he only seemed to feel her contact if she pushed further.

She prayed that Torren felt nothing of that connection. She had not known her own skills till she had been much older than Torren and so far he had shown no indication that he was bothered by Todd's presence, or any other Wraith or Hybrid he had been near before. Yet, she feared for him. She feared now, surrounded by the darkness of the dead of night.

Something brushed lightly against her arm and she looked round to find John seated beside her, his legs hanging over the side like hers had been. She frowned at him for she had not heard him approach, yet she was already feeling more relaxed with him beside her. The darkness subsided slightly in the presence of her friend and she watched as he leant down, as she had done, and studied the dark waters below them.

She woke then, realising only in the last moments, as she had looked down past John's bare feet to the crashing waves below, that she was dreaming. She rolled onto her back in the bed and lifted a hand to her forehead. The dull headache receded and she wiped her eyes clear of the last vestiges of sleep. The room was dark around her and the weak moonlight glowed in through the window across the room from the bed. Beside her Kanaan breathed deeply and steadily in his sleep.

The lingering feelings of tension and worry had followed her into her waking world and she carefully sat up in the bed, resting her bare feet down onto the cool floor beside the bed. She padded across the room to Torren's small bed, to find him deeply asleep like his father. With no other distraction available she reached for a blanket and walked over to the window. She pushed aside one side of the curtain to reveal the moon just as she had dreamt. Her eyes dropped to the place, far out along the pier, where she had been seated in her dream. She almost expected to see something there.

"Teyla?" Kanaan's voice drifted over to her through the darkness. "Are you alright?"

She was surprised at the annoyance she felt in his interruption, though she was in some way glad of it. "Just a dream," she replied softly. "I did not mean to wake you."

She saw his outline shift across the room as he sat up, the bed creaking slightly. "A bad dream?"

"Nothing new," she replied as she turned her attention back up to the pale moon above the city. Though, that was not entirely true; tonight's dream had felt more…real.

"Something has been on your mind for awhile."

She was a little surprised at Kanaan's insight, for she had thought she had hidden it well, but then she remembered the concerned look John had given her earlier this evening as they had left the restaurant. She took a breath, wishing she could taste the sea air, and tried to put into words what had been bothering her.

"It may be Todd's presence in the city," she began.

"The Wraith has been here for many months," Kanaan replied and besides he felt the Todd's presence as she did. He did not approve of the names the people of Atlantis gave the Wraith, but Kanaan was never one to openly argue, though his tone held his disapproval now, as well as his doubt in her suggestion.

She nodded. "I would say that I am concerned that more Wraith will find Earth, but that is nothing new for us either." She stared up at the moon, pulled in by the glow of it which especially bothered her tonight for some reason. "I feel…as if something is about to happen," she whispered against the ancient glass. "Something is coming."

The bed creaked again behind her, breaking her out of the strange trance. "Wraith?" Kanaan asked concerned.

She shook her head. "I do not sense anything new, but then…there is something…" She shook her head again, this time more forcefully.

Kanaan was silent then, but that silence held its own warning of what was to come and she knew the time had arrived for words to be shared that they had been avoiding. It was strange timing, though maybe appropriate, as she stood in the uneasy moonlight. "I thought you might be more concerned about whether we will be returning home," he commented, though it was a question.

She turned to look over her shoulder to where he sat cross legged on the bed. "I miss our people as much as you, Kanaan. I hope that we will return home to our galaxy soon."

"I fear for our people back home, Teyla. If the Wraith learn that Atlantis has gone; how will that affect how they are culling worlds?"

Teyla looked away again; these were the same thoughts that haunted her. The subject had been discussed many times in the early meetings with the IOA once Atlantis had reached Earth. John had been a strong advocate in returning to Pegasus, as had many others, but the conclusion reached by most was that the Wraith would be unlikely to find out Atlantis was gone from Pegasus' stars for a long time. The factions within the Wraith would no doubt be growing, hopefully continuing to battle each other and reducing their numbers further. The Wraith had not been in a strong position when Atlantis had left Pegasus and that would be unlikely to change with Atlantis' absence. Kanaan had not agreed and she was not sure she did either.

"I know. I worry for them as well, Kanaan, but there is nothing we can do. We must be patient."

He nodded, but she could feel his disapproval again. It was becoming a regular problem. She moved away from the window back towards him, the blanket wrapped around her against the chill of the night.

"Be patient, Kanaan. We will return home, it may simply take time."

He looked up at her with his dark gentle eyes. A year ago she would never have thought him an impatient man, but now she could see something dark within him. "What is it?" She asked him.

He looked away from her towards Torren. "I simply wish we had remained back home."

At his words and distant eye contact she had a flash of understanding to the source of that darkness. She was surprised she had not realised before now. "You are angry with me for deciding to remain in the city when it was clear we were headed to Earth," she stated.

He looked back up at her. "I promised you I would honour your choices."

She nodded. It was a gift from him that she had taken for granted, but had that been because it served her so well? "The safest place for Torren is in the city," she said; a statement she had repeated many times for others and for herself.

Kanaan looked away as he scratched at the back of his neck. He was more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him. "I know you believe that, Teyla, but I have to wonder."

She frowned at him as she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "If it is Torren's safety you are most concerned about, Kanaan, then Earth is the greatest sanctuary he could have. There are no Wraith here and most people, on this highly populated world, live lives without fear of what could descend upon them from the stars."

"Is that why you wish to stay here?" Kanaan asked.

"I have never said that, Kanaan," she assured him, though she may have thought of the possibility. How tempting it was to imagine her son growing up on a planet rich with all he could need and with no threat of the Wraith? "I wish to be able to see our people again, but my place is still where I can do the most good for our people, for all people."

"And what are we achieving now? We sit in the city and do nothing." Kanaan replied his frustration clear.

"The scientists are learning more about the Ancestor's technology every day…"

"For the military of Earth to use, Teyla," he argued with more force than she had seen in him before and that told her more about his true feelings than anything. "Those people you spoke of on this world, most of then know nothing of what is out there among the stars. They know nothing and are denied the right to decide for themselves."

Teyla focused on his last few words, which seemed to have been delivered with more passion than any of the others. "Do you feel you can not choose for yourself here?" She asked him.

"You chose this life for yourself and Torren, Teyla."

"You chose to live here in the city with us," she replied, her heart skipping at his true feelings revealed.

"I did, but…I am a farmer, Teyla. I miss the trees, sleeping in the tent of my mother, of waking to the sound of laughter and to the scent of grass on the air. I miss hunting, sitting around the fire with our people and listening to the stories of old over and over."

Teyla felt a tear in the corner of her eye; she remembered those things vividly as well. She missed them, but only as more of a nostalgic feeling than the deep home sickness she had felt during her first year in Atlantis. She had been away from the life of her people for longer than Kanaan, or perhaps it was because she had wanted more. She loved her people, but she had wanted, needed, to do more. Her place, her destiny, was out amongst the stars. She would do anything for her people and to make a difference for all. If that meant living away from them then she would do so. Kanaan, however, clearly did not feel the same way.

She turned from him and walked back over to the window, as her mind turned with the future possibilities. The curtain was still pulled back from the night and she rested back against the glass. "You are right, Kanaan, you do not choose for yourself. I have imposed my desires upon you."

Kanaan shifted to the edge of the bed behind her and she lifted her eyes to his vague reflection in the glass.

"I made the decision to live here in the city," he stated clearly, "and I have not regretted being with you and Torren for one moment. I love our son and I would do anything for him."

"Even live where you are unhappy?" She asked sadly. What he had shared with her, though painful, was truthfully nothing new for her to hear. She had known this, deep down, so why had she pretended it was not true? They were two very different people though they came from the same world and shared a strong bond from childhood. But, there had to be more than that. She looked back at him and saw the same grim expression on his face that she too felt. Just because she felt the pull of a destiny she craved, did not mean she had a right to dictate Kanaan's life. And in truth, she had not thought to consult him that day when the decision had been made to use the wormhole drive back to Earth, and she was ashamed of herself for that.

"Then, I will make one more decision for us both," she uttered carefully.

A pained look crossed his face. "I do not want that, Teyla."

She nodded, the tears in her eyes, but she remained still and strong in her decision. "It will be best that we spend some time apart, so that we can both be clear as to what it is that we want."

He stood up from the bed and approached her, the moonlight sliding across his strong bare chest. "I love you, Teyla, you know that."

"I know and I love you as well, but there has to be more," she whispered to him.

She watched the flash of anger and regret over his face. "Why do you want to do this? Is it that you really do not wish to return to our people?" He demanded, his anger making him bolder than she had seen him before.

She wanted to look away from him; to be able to hide her feelings by even that small amount, but she would not deny him what he deserved to know. She took a deep breath. "Kanaan, I wish to return to our stars and see our people again, but I will never return to live with them." His shock at her words confirmed her suspicion that he had always believed one she would give up Atlantis and go back to 'where she belonged'. She felt both saddened and angered by that continuing thought of her people. She loved them all, but her path was different and hers to command. "I will never be a farmer again, Kanaan. Even if we were to return to Pegasus without Atlantis or with those from Earth, I will always be looking to do more to help stop the Wraith and any others that will harm our people."

"You can do that as one of our people, living with us."

The divisions in his mind were already set, she could see that now. Why had she not seen this herself before? Perhaps it was that some part of her did wish to simply return to that wonderful life he had described; to wake to laughter and the smell of fresh grass and cooking fires once again. But, she understood, that life was partly a façade set over the fragility of their life under the constant threat of the Wraith. Her father had taught her that, it had been one of his first teachings on leadership; that her people needed to live in the moment and to cherish their life, but that as leaders they had to always remember what was underneath and to protect their people from their own fear as much as from the Wraith.

Two thin tracks of tears were cold as they ran down her cheeks. "I have to do more, Kanaan."

"Why?" He demanded, but there was deep need in his voice as well as his pain.

She turned from him then, to look out at the landscape of the Ancestor city sat upon a world alien to her. "I do not know," she whispered honestly.

------

The machine rumbled away as it worked and Roger waited beside it as patiently as he could. The paper dropped out into the tray and he added it to the folder in his hand. The printer started on the next page and, to focus himself away from his growing impatience, Roger began reading the report again. By itself it wasn't entirely conclusive, but when added to all the other information he and his team had dug up, it was seriously alarming. Roger checked his watch once again; the General was waiting upstairs for this report and Roger could almost feel the great man's impatience emanating through the concrete walls.

The final page was delivered by the printer and Roger was across the room and through the door before the printer finished preparing itself for its next job.

The corridors of the SGC were as busy as usual. With the new expedition being prepared and with added personnel from Atlantis, there were rarely any quiet days in the base anymore. Not that quiet days were all that popular around here, as they were usually, inevitably, followed by busy worrying days. With the report and research in Roger's hand, today was turning out to be one of the very worrying days.

The General's assistant was waiting for him and waved Roger into the General's office. General Landry looked up from the preliminary report Roger had given him an hour ago.

"Lieutenant. About time. What do you have?"

Roger sat down in the chair the General waved him towards. The other two chairs were occupied; Doctor Jackson and Colonel Carter, who, Roger couldn't help but notice, was now clearly showing her pregnancy. The chair was very firm against his back as he sat down, but perhaps it too comfortable for what he was about to report.

"It's conclusive, Sir. The woman was killed by a Wraith."

"You're absolutely sure?" The General asked.

"Yes, Sir. The blood work came back on the victim; there were trace levels of Wraith enzyme in her system, consistent with Wraith feeding."

The General swore quietly to himself and nodded, before he turned to Colonel Carter. "Have you spoken to Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes, Sir. He assures me that Todd has not left his cell since Atlantis arrived. There is a constant guard presence and video coverage at all times. The Colonel has checked through it all to be sure and is certain; Todd hasn't moved, Sir."

The General's frown deepened. "So, one slipped through the net, Colonel." He sat back in his chair.

"Sir, we accounted for every single dart that came out of the Hive ship. Most were destroyed in the run on Area 51, those that were shot down were recovered and all the Wraith bodies were accounted for."

"Then more darts left the Hive ship than we knew about. Maybe some headed around the other side of the planet."

"We would have picked that up, Sir," the Colonel replied.

Roger's heart beat faster as he sat forward offering his folder to the General. "Sir, if I may. We have more."

The General reached for the folder. "More?"

"Yes, Sir. Though this is the only Wraith attack we are aware of in this country, we found reports from other countries."

"What?" The General looked up sharply from the folder.

"Two reports from Spain, one from Italy and possibly one from Morocco. There may be more, but these are all that we were able to find so far."

"Moving westwards?" Doctor Jackson muttered as he leant forward drawing the General's attention. "When was the earliest report from?"

"Five months ago in Morocco, and the others in order moving westwards since then," Roger supplied instantly.

"So, still within the time frame since the Hive was destroyed," Doctor Jackson uttered.

"You're still looking for more reports, obviously?" the General demanded.

"Yes, Sir," Roger assured him quickly, "but we'll only be able to identify more if the bodies have been found and correctly documented by local police. The female victim killed here was found in the ocean, washed up on the shore. Clearly the Wraith is trying to hide its presence."

"Not all that well, and we can't be sure that it's only one Wraith," Colonel Carter added.

Doctor Jackson looked round. "True. The question still remains though; what's so important that it, or they, risk being found and where is it heading?"

"The Gate?" The General suggested.

"It would be the most likely means of escaping the planet," Colonel Carter replied, though there was doubt in her own voice.

"Or perhaps it is trying to find someone?" Doctor Jackson added.

"Maybe it is trying to reach Todd?" Roger suggested. All three sets of eyes turned to him.

"It's a possibility, Sir," Colonel Carter agreed.

The General scanned through pages of Roger's updated report, as the others waited patiently.

"Colonel," the General looked up finally towards Colonel Carter. "I want Colonel Sheppard briefly asap and I want him and a team of his choice over here now. I want this Wraith, one or more, found."

"Yes, Sir."

---------

John brought the Jumper down towards the designated area, sliding it under the cover of a wide overhang that would be the Jumper's hangar during their visit. As the ship settled John powered everything down except the cloak. Even here, parked at the SGC, they had to be careful.

Everyone began to exit out the back of the ship, all used to the routine. John, however, was feeling very apprehensive. All he had been told was to get over to the SGC asap as there was a Wraith loose on Earth. He hadn't told the others yet, as it would be the General's briefing that would disclose the details of whatever it was they had found. Following the destruction of the Hive ship over Earth, he had worked as part of the clean up crew locating crashed Wraith ships and ensuring the Wraith inside were in fact dead. As far as he knew, and he had read all the reports, every dart had been found and each had the remains of a Wraith inside. The sweepers in each crashed dart had been checked and no Wraith had been stored in there either. They had accounted for every single piece of debris that had hit Earth's orbit; they had covered everything, but somewhere something had been missed.

Somehow at least one Wraith had slipped through and if that was true, they would find it. After all they had their very own Wraith tracking team; Teyla would be able to sense it, Ronon track it and all together they would kill it. Though, this time they would have the full might of the military behind them as well. Some days it was good to be home!

They were led into the bunker and into the elevator that took its time dropping the many floors to the level of the meeting room. John knew the trip like the back of his hand now. He regularly attended meetings here and besides he had worked in the SGC for several months a few years back. He preferred Atlantis.

They were shown into the main conference room to find Doctor Jackson, Colonel Carter and General Landry already waiting for them. It was never a good day when a General sat waiting for you to arrive.

"Please, sit." The General waved John's team to their seats. John had also asked Carson along, since his knowledge of Wraith physiology and experience with Michael could be useful.

"I'm going to keep this brief, people," the General began. "You each have a summarised report in front of you to study. In short; we have at least one Wraith loose on Earth."

John watched the reactions of his friends. Rodney looked like he had been slapped, Ronon glowered and Carson swore quietly. Teyla however was the most interesting reaction. She was shocked, but something quickly followed it. He waited for her to look at him and he lifted a questioning eyebrow.

"Teyla?"

All eyes turned to her.

"I have obviously been aware of Todd within the city, but the last week or so, I have been feeling distracted and have not been sleeping well." John had known something wasn't right with her lately, but the last two days had been worse. John trusted her, but she had kept a vital secret from him before.

"Like the nightmares you had when that Wraith snuck into Atlantis before the siege?" He asked.

She nodded, but frowned deeper. "Yes, though different somehow. It has been stronger these last few days."

"We believe the Wraith only reached American soil a few days ago," the General confirmed and John saw the softness to the man's eyes as he smiled grimly at Teyla. "Can you tell if there is more than one of them?" He asked. All eyes turned to Teyla again as she looked away, her attention turning inward.

"No, but I could reach out to them to find out. Or I may be able to tell once I am closer to one of them."

The General looked over at John briefly. "I think we should hold back in you contacting them directly, we don't want to show our hand just yet. It appears that your skills are needed on Earth as much as they were in Pegasus, Teyla."

Teyla nodded her agreement, but there was still a frown to her features. It was only that John knew her so well that he suspected that there was either something more, or something else entirely different, that was still bothering her. "I am not sure how I should find a Wraith in such a massive country," she added.

"A woman was killed on the East coast a few days ago. The Wraith dumped her body in the ocean, but the changing tides brought on by the recent storm down in Florida, meant that she was washed back to shore pretty quickly. We have identified her and she was last seen at a club very close to where her body was found. You can start there," the General suggested.

John nodded. "Do we have any idea where these Wraith crashed?" John asked.

Daniel sat forward at this point. "We have found reports of similar deaths moving westwards, on a line now starting from Egypt, through Morocco, Italy and Spain. Presumably it, or they, boarded a ship on the west coast of Spain and made it to the US East coast. We're assuming from the path that it is heading somewhere specific and urgently, judging by the trail its leaving."

"The Gate?" Ronon asked doubtfully. "One Wraith or ten will never get through your defences here."

John nodded. "Could they be heading over the country to get to Atlantis?"

"That is one of our theories, Colonel. Perhaps this Wraith is trying to reach Todd, or some other person or location we have yet to discover," the General replied. "What is clear is that we need to find out. Do you think Todd will help?"

John considered that. "Possibly, but I doubt he will talk to just anyone."

"I was hoping you were going to volunteer, Colonel. Thank you," the General replied with a smile.

"But, I need to help track the Wraith with my team, Sir," John argued without thinking. He really shouldn't be questioning a General, but bad habits and all that.

"You can use a Jumper to join them later, but for now we have plenty of support for them here."

John nodded at the slight dress down, subtly done. Life here was different than in Pegasus; he needed to remember that. "Yes, Sir. If I might ask, Sir?" John asked carefully. At the General's lifted eyebrow he continued. "Todd usually only…assists us…if there is something in it for him."

The General nodded. "I understand that he is being kept in a small, well guarded room?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Then offer him a larger room." The General turned to the rest of the table. "Colonel Carter will be your contact here. I want these creatures found and quickly." He stood and the others stood as he left the table, except Ronon who only at the last moment stood as well, but by then the General had left the room.

------

The sea air was brisk and refreshing. The last cruise ship she had used for transport had reached these lands further down shore than the location she had heard about. So, she made her way along the shore. The gulls circled above her and she smiled up at them for a moment as they called to each other. The vocals sounded like a discussion, or perhaps a disagreement and she was reminded of so long ago. She had sat and listened to birds then as well; before everything had been lost.

The path along the shore turned down towards further soft sand and rounded rocks, but she paused. There was something in the air. Turning, she scanned the area, her eyes searching each face of the people wandering along the paths. People tended to ignore her or stare. She had been told before that she had unusual looks, pretty almost and she had always kept her body toned and lithe. But, the reason why some stared was due to an entirely different reason, for somewhere deep inside them they recognised that she was slightly different from them. She could see the subtle frowns on their faces; they didn't even understand why she had drawn their attention. Some moved on quickly, feeling unnerved by her. Occasionally in the past some would try to follow her, seeking to understand what was different between them. Before, she had befriended some, but too much time had passed and it was almost over, so there was no more time for that. But, there was something or someone important here.

She scanned the passing people and touched deeper into the sensation and realised that it was an entirely new feeling. That alone shocked her, for she had experienced almost everything, though she was happy to find something unknown. Yet, as she brushed against it again, there was also something strangely familiar to it in some way. It was not close by, she concluded, but it was growing closer. She felt no threat from it or about it, other than a touch of convergence; she would no doubt meet this new 'thing' or person soon.

That clear, she moved on down to the sand and rocks, seeking out the last place of the latest victim.

--------  
TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter: **3

-------

The entire area had been cornered off and already teams in white clothes were testing the area, but as they had no idea exactly where the woman had been killed it was difficult for them. Teyla knew that a Wraith killing would be unlikely to leave behind any signs of violence; blood was rarely found and in fact the usual sign that someone had been taken by a Wraith was their absence. Teyla had heard that no one had reported this victim missing for two days.

The car came to a stop a short distance away from the line of yellow tape that had been strung up around the entrance to the club and its parking lot. Teyla climbed out of the car into the strong smell of sea air mixed with pollution. Teyla had rarely known pollution until she had come to the major cities of Earth. There had been one world back home, whose people had made their trade with the manufacture of pots. Huge kilns had dotted the landscape of their world and the thick smoky air had constantly tasted of hot clay. But, Earth was quite different. At least here, though there was a lot of traffic nearby, the sea air cut through a lot of it and Teyla took a deeper breath than she normally would have dared.

Colonel Walker led the way towards the crime scene. Until John returned from Atlantis, the Colonel would be in charge. He and his team were well know to her and Ronon, for they often accompanied scientists to Atlantis and Teyla knew that Walker had expressed interest in returning with them to Pegasus should the day hopefully come. They paused at the plastic tape and Walker continued on to check in with whoever was in charge of the scene.

Teyla caught part of the colourful tape in her fingers and read the black writing along its length. She released it and watched it dance in the sea breeze. She turned towards the sounds of the ocean to their right. The shore was blocked from her view, but she could see gulls circling above it, drifting on high currents of air. She was used to gulls as, despite its location and cloak, gulls had made a home on two piers of Atlantis. No one knew how the creatures had found the city or how they navigated to it with the cloak constantly in place, but the birds had made their home on the city. She knew that there had been several attempts to encourage them away, but without the shield there was no way to prevent their return, and they always did; usually onto the next pier over.

Fortunately the material the city was constructed of, or coated with, repelled dirt from its surface, which meant that the white deposits the gulls left over areas of the piers could be easily washed away. So, the sea gulls had been accepted and a new duty had been added to the city's rota; cleanup duty. Teyla liked the birds, especially the larger gulls. They seemed highly intelligent and would walk close to people, studying them closely. Though, she had been warned that they could get a little vicious if there was food around, so she always watched them carefully when she took Torren outside.

She watched the gulls circling in the distance high above the unseen shore. She would have loved to walk down to the shoreline now, to take in the fresher air; there was some nice sand and rounded rocks across which she could walk. She paused wondering how she had known what the shoreline looked like without ever having seen it before.

"They're ready for us," Walker announced breaking her out of her thoughts.

She ducked under the tape that Ronon held up for her and they followed Walker, with the rest of his team behind them, towards the open concreted area to one side of a one storey building. Rodney followed along at the back of the group, still mumbling; he had wanted to stay back in the SGC with Carson to work over the evidence of the other deaths. Teyla suspected he was nervous about finding the Wraith on his home planet.

"Keep up, McKay," Ronon called back to him, having seen the direction of Teyla's attention.

To his credit Rodney hurried to catch up. "I don't know why we're here; the…targets will be long gone by now." They were not to use certain words out in the open on this world and John had briefed them several times on that before he left in the Jumper to question Todd. Teyla thought John had looked annoyed and worried at leaving the rest of them behind, not that they didn't have more back up with them now than they had ever had back in Pegasus.

"This is the last known location, so perhaps we can learn something from the site. It may be that the targets are still in the area, we can not know for sure," Teyla replied, though she knew he was aware of the reasons already.

"If they're still heading westwards they would hardly sit and wait around here," he complained as they passed the dark building to their right.

"Maybe they just wanted to get here," Ronon suggested though Teyla knew he didn't believe that.

"Why?!" Rodney argued.

Teyla stopped listening to the discussion and studied the run down looking building as she passed it. In the windows signs, no doubt lit up at night, were dark and there was a nasty stale smell lingered around the place. She did not like it here, and she knew it had nothing to do with the fact that a woman may have died here.

"They found one of her shoes over there," Colonel Walker reported and they all paused to the side of the building, looking out at the empty lot. Faded and broken painted lines delineating where the vehicles should park across the uneven space. "Forensics have gone over everything already, so we're free to wander," the Colonel told them.

Teyla took a breath and stepped forward into the lot. Rodney had a point; what could they hope to find here three days after the killing? But, she knew she had to try to seek out the Wraith and the last place they knew one of them had been was the best place, the only place, they had. She hoped it would give her focus and help her to trace the creatures.

"What do you need from us?" Walker asked from behind her.

"I need to be able to focus," she replied kindly as she looked over her shoulder at him and her friends.

"Which means; be quiet please?" he replied with a smile and she nodded.

The last distraction gone she had to turn her mind to finally going forward with this hunt. She walked further forward into the lot, the sea breeze seeming filled with the loud sounds of the traffic, voices and boots turning on gravel. Her eyes drifted closed and she took a deep breath. She needed to be careful, for she did not wish the Wraith to know she was here, but she needed to gain as much information as possible.

She pushed aside all her own worries and finally found her focus. It was pleasing in itself as in this area she once again had purpose; no longer was she haunting the hallways of Atlantis and dreaming of her home. She was once again doing her job. She sank into that place inside herself which she usually kept tightly shut and carefully eased open her mind and sent out feelers into the space through which she could contact Wraith.

She felt the contact immediately; there were definitely Wraith on Earth. She moved further forward into the sensation and two distinct directions fell into focus. Moving towards one she gently reached out only to feel the familiar feel of Todd's mind. She pulled back at once, but she knew he had felt her contact and she could almost hear his amused laughter. She closed the connection, imagining heavy thick doors blocking him out and she moved onto the other sensation.

It was vivid and loud as she touched it. Images flashed into her mind; roads, traffic and wind on its face. Other flashes of images flew with it; the creature's thoughts.

"I have found it," she whispered, hoping the others could hear her.

"How many of them are there?" Colonel Walker asked, his voice sounding distant and strange through the connection.

She tried to keep her link light so that she could keep back from the Wraith and be present enough to report what she saw to the others. "There is only one," she told them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, only one. A male." She pushed a little further into his thoughts, still skimming around them though. A strange sensation fluttered around it briefly and she paused, fearing it had sensed her, but felt nothing more. She reached into the current images she could see. "It is travelling…on top of a truck of some kind." The Wraith's senses were filled with the constant chilled breeze over it as the vehicle travelled on along a main highway. Teyla saw flashes of other trucks it had used, people it had drained.

"It has been travelling these past days, stopping when the trucks stop. It has been feeding when it could, but it is hungry," she added, noting the deep cold feeling of the Wraith. "Very hungry and it needs more nourishment." It was a strange feeling for surely it had been filled by those it had killed.

"Where are the bodies?" Someone asked from behind her.

She danced through the images, not wishing to push too much, but merely observe where its thoughts lingered, and since it was so hungry its feeding was foremost in its thoughts. Memories flickered, filled with the horrific feelings of feeding and the pleasure it took in its victims' ends. She heard herself gasp and she pulled away from those memories. A hand touched her elbow briefly, comforting and supporting, but not enough to break her connection.

"It has been feeding on the homeless and inebriated people, dumping their bodies into ditches, forest or even bins." She really wanted to wipe her mouth, as if the tastes and smells from the Wraith's memories were attached to her somehow. Pulling back further she gained some more focus and distance from the sensations.

"Where is it going?"

She moved forward again, but felt nothing but determination to reach its target. "It is definitely heading towards something, and there is still a good distance to go," she reported. "But, there is something else…" She pushed a little harder into the thoughts of its travels, only for a heavy block to stop her. "It is blocking that information." It was a strange thing for the creature to do, for surely it did not know that there was someone on this world who could reach into its mind. Maybe it did know about her, which was a worrying thought.

"Can you break through?" The Colonel's voice wavered into her ear as if from a great distance.

She pressed forward only for the Wraith's mind to abruptly change. Walls slammed down throughout its thoughts and she felt it turn on her. New images and thoughts powered through its head.

"It has sensed my presence," she gasped, "but…there is something." Flickering memories and a violent aggression were abruptly thrown towards her, only for the Wraith's mind to falter as it properly focused on her. It thought she was someone else she realised and it recoiled in surprise.

"It fears another seeing its thoughts, a woman…" the flashes of images shut off as the Wraith tried to push her away. Suddenly on the stronger side, Teyla kept the connection. "Someone it knows…someone it fears."

The shift of power changed again and Teyla pulled back from the intensity of the thoughts for the Wraith was now curious about her, reaching towards her thoughts. She broke the connection, but as she pulled back she hit something and she opened her eyes in shock, turning expecting to have walked backwards into one of the team. However, Ronon and the Colonel stood at least a metre away from her now.

"What is it?" Ronon asked as he moved to her side, his Earth issued weapon instantly in his hand.

Teyla frowned. "I'm not sure. I thought I felt something." She pushed back into the deep place inside her, replaying the last memories she had of the connection. "Someone was watching me," she realised. "Watching me watching the Wraith." It was the most bizarre feeling and she had not known it was even possible, but she was certain. The feeling of the new mind was very different to the Wraith's, and it was very, very strong.

"Who is it?" the Colonel asked as she had apparently been talking to them about what she was feeling.

On a sudden insight she compared what she had felt to what she had learnt from the Wraith. She opened her eyes and looked up at the two men's worried faces. "I think it is the woman the Wraith feared. The one it mistook my invasion for."

"Did she read your mind?"

She reassessed her feelings. "No, it was like it she was watching me as I interacted with the Wraith." Now that she was thinking about it, the mind had been powerful, but contained and merely observant.

"Which means we have a new player," Colonel Walker muttered. "Do you know where she is?"

Teyla opened her mouth to say she did not, but then she recalled that she had known what the nearby shoreline had looked like, though she had never visited it. There was the odd chance that she had seen pictures of it somewhere before, but surely she would not have known it was this precise piece of shoreline. "She may be down by the shore," she suggested.

"Let's go check it out." Colonel Walker turned and with quick strides was walking away towards the rest of his team. Teyla paused, looking around the lot, her eyes falling to the white chalk circle and arrow drawn onto the concrete a few metres away; the location of the victim's shoe. With a brief flash of grief and regret Teyla silently uttered the farewell prayer to the Ancestors, asking them to greet and care for the woman's spirit. This was a grey dull place to have lost one's life, but then when did Wraith care about such things? Teyla lifted her eyes from the chalk markings and looked around the lot. That strange sensation that had been haunting her stirred inside her again; that instinct that told her that more was to come. There had been something dark and dangerous in the Wraith's intent and it had to be stopped, yet Teyla feared that, as always, life would not be so simple.

-------

John nodded to the sentries on duty and activated the door. He stepped into the wide room, at the centre of which stood the clear plastic cell. Inside Todd was seated in a basic chair, his back towards the door, reading an old looking hardback book.

Todd looked over his shoulder with studied disinterest. "Ah, Sheppard." He purred out John's name as he always did. "You do not visit me as much as you used to."

John came to a rest a good metre away from the solid clear plastic wall separating them and crossed his arms over his chest. "I see you've made your self at home." John indicated the new stack of books set on the solid plastic table before Todd. The table was the only furniture besides the bed and the soft enough chair Todd was currently sat in.

Todd grunted out a laugh as he turned back to the book. "Yes, Doctor Jackson was gracious enough to supply me with some reading material."

John tried not to frown at the thought of Todd studying Earth culture and even more concerned that he could read English so well. John ignored those worries and returned Todd's expression of disinterest.

Todd chuckled to himself, perhaps at John, he couldn't be sure. "I am reading of the fall of the great city of Troy." He closed the book over his fingers to keep his place and turned his full attention on John. "I was thinking how ironic it is that history repeats itself so frequently." He smiled a toothy grin.

John took the bait. "So that would make you the wooden horse?"

Todd chuckled again. "Don't spoil the end for me, Sheppard."

John resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course what the Trojans should have done, was burn the horse straight away."

"Indeed they should and would have no doubt, had it not been for the need for a good story. And a good lesson."

"I've already learnt this lesson," John started.

"Which lesson is that?" Todd asked.

"That I was right about you," John told him with a grim smile.

Todd looked truly interested now as he turned his body, leaning one arm along the back of his chair. "Oh?" He was smiling again.

John resisted the urge to pace, for that would be a sign of weakness and the quickest way to lose a battle against Todd. Handling Todd was like handling a lion; you have to watch them constantly, despite how tame they may appear, and to never show a moment of weakness, or you become prey. The thing was John had already been Todd's prey.

"I'm assuming that you were planning to wait for us to learn about the other Wraith first," John told him.

Todd smiled again, rocked his head back and barked out a laugh. "Ah, yes. You do know me very well, Sheppard." He turned, picked up a piece of cloth and inserted it into the book and set it down on the clear table. He turned and stood in one rush of movement, and slowly approached. He stopped equal distance from the wall that separated them. "And now you wish to ask me for my help."

John met the creature's eyes, not enjoying the fact that the Wraith towered over him. John didn't have to look up to a lot of people, physically at least, but when facing Todd John always wished he was a little taller. But, that was a fleeting thought as he stared at the Wraith who had almost taken his life away, only to return it.

"What do you know?" John asked.

"What would you like to know?" Todd responded.

John regarded the creature and then finally looked away with a smile, looking around at the plastic box that was Todd's home. "You know, I don't think you know anything. After all you've been inside this rabbit hutch since we got here. What could you tell us?" John added enough true doubt and insult into the question as he could.

Todd, clearly seeing the game and choosing to play anyway, smiled again, though it was not as toothy as before. "Ah, there is the question, for there are many possibilities are there not? I could have been communicating with this other Wraith all these many months. Who knows what I have learnt in that time?"

John smiled at him. "Well, thanks for confirming its just one Wraith."

Todd narrowed his eyes. "You already knew that before you came in here. Teyla has already been poking around hasn't she?" He tapped the side of his temple.

John frowned at him, annoyed to hear that Todd had felt Teyla's mental touch and to hear her name on his lips. Todd tilted his head slightly. "Are we to play such basic games, Sheppard? I thought we had progressed further than that."

"I don't want to play any of your games, Todd," John replied.

"Yet, you are here."

"If you have anything that you want to share with us, let me know." John turned his back on the plastic room and walked towards the door. Todd remained silent until John opened the door.

"And what will I get if I do? More weak furniture? More books?"

John turned back to him. "What do you want?" He asked, though he could already guess.

Todd moved towards his clear plastic wall. "I do not see how you can consider me such a threat anymore." He lifted his hands and rested his palms against the wall. "After all I am not what I once was." John couldn't help but look at Todd's empty smooth palms. But, he wasn't convinced for a moment. They may have defanged the monster again with Keller and Carson's latest treatments, but he was still dangerously clever and self serving. If there was a way to get him self out of his plastic box Todd would find it, John was certain of that, but he was silently afraid that, once again, he would be used as the tool Todd needed to do so.

"We're not letting you go anytime soon, so you can forget that," John told him plainly.

"You said that once before I believe," Todd uttered. "Yet, you let me go and did I not help you?"

"I'm not going to get into this discussion again. You want to offer information on this Wraith then you can have a bigger cage and maybe some more books, but that's it," John stated clearly.

Todd remained silent then and John guessed he had called the Wraith's bluff.

"You don't actually know anything do you," John stated, trying to keep the question out of his tone.

Todd looked down and away then, his eyes becoming slightly distant. "I know that something is playing out that none of us can control. Perhaps Troy was always meant to fall." He looked up at John again with his yellow alien eyes. "But, if you allow me some fresh air I will help you if I can."

John regarded Todd and actually believed him this time, which was probably a huge mistake. There was something a little too serious in Todd's words, almost as if he were nervous himself. John had to wonder how those Greeks had felt all crammed upside their wooden horse, waiting for their chance at fresh air.

"I'll pass on your offer," John replied dismissively over his shoulder as he turned and walked out of the open doorway. The guards straightened slightly as he passed them.

Todd, as usual, had more to say. "Oh, Sheppard, be sure to watch out for beautiful princesses. Who knows what could happen if you ran off with one." He chuckled with his heavy baritone voice.

John stopped in the hallway and looked back at Todd, trapped inside his see-through box. "Helen was a queen, not a princess," John pointed out.

Todd's laughter halted abruptly and his face turned very serious. "Yes, indeed she was."

John frowned at the Wraith, something stirring on the back of his neck, before he moved on down the corridor. The doors slid shut behind him, shutting off Todd's eyes from his back, but John couldn't help feeling that, once again, he was being out played by the Wraith in some way.

-------

She opened her eyes to the patch of sand and rocks where the body had been found, but she had already known that both the body and the Wraith would have been long gone. The sand was still slightly stained from where the body had rested before it had been lifted away to be studied. Yet, she would still have known the location even without the stain and the broken tape lining half buried in the sand. The scent of death was clear, as was the lingering fear and fascination of those who had watched it being lifted from the water's edge.

She stood, her gaze turning off towards the sound of the vehicles passing along the road, hidden behind the high ridge of sand and earth. She had to move, for the human female would be leading them here in no time and she had to leave or be forced into a possible confrontation. Such a confrontation would only slow her down and she had much time to catch up; the creature was already three days ahead of her, but now she was ashore she would be able to catch up.

She made her way quickly over the rocks and onto the sand once again, hurrying her steps back up to the main path leading up from the beach. There were even more people around now and she headed straight into the thick of them as she headed back in the direction she had come.

Her transport would be waiting for her and she did not want to be delayed. The sea of human minds surrounded her and she pulled in her senses slightly so as not to be overwhelmed or distracted. Flashes of images from their heads passed through her consciousness without her focusing too intently upon them; one young child reunited with her father who her mother rarely allowed her to see, a couple both excited in their first day alone together (though one already had another lover), an older female who had lost her two children to war their faces now lingering in her mind as she gazed out at the ocean.

All this and more danced around her, but she listened only vaguely, watching out for the mind she had touched. She was so surprised at the mind she had sensed and even more so at the skills the human female possessed. She had known something new and interesting had been on its way, but she had not anticipated this female. The female's presence said more about the changes to human understanding that she had expected, but it also confirmed an old truth; that what she had hoped had been buried had indeed surfaced again.

-------

Teyla hurried from the car and down to the busy boardwalk that stretched along the shoreline overlooking the water and patches of beach. One look down to the left area of sand and rocks confirmed the image she had seen in her mind previously; this was the area.

"Where is she?" Colonel Walker asked as he reached her side.

Teyla turned looking one way along the sea of people, but then turned back the other way. "This way," she reported as she began walking at a brisk pace along with the other people enjoying the sea breeze. Teyla craned her neck around people and over people's shoulders as she tried to look at every back ahead of her. She had no idea what this woman would look like, yet at the same time she knew she would recognise her. The images from the Wraith had not imprinted in her memory clearly, but once she saw the woman Teyla was certain she would know her. Teyla was surprised that the woman didn't stand out in the crowd; for with such an amazingly powerful mind she had to stand out somehow.

Teyla pushed her way as casually as she could past people's shoulders, issuing polite apologies as she did so. The crowd was thinning ahead, but she saw nothing. She slowed her step, annoyed at herself; she must have missed her somewhere further back. Then, a flash of movement just caught behind a couple sitting on a wall both licking ice lollies that dripped down their hands. Teyla looked beyond the couple and saw the back of a dark coat disappear around a corner. Teyla pushed her way across the boardwalk, past the couple and up a slight incline. The strange shimmering sensation of the woman's mind grew as Teyla pushed on, but once she emerged from the ramp she found it had led to a bustling main street which was full of shoppers and tourists.

Teyla did not stop to complain about the fact that the woman had disappeared into this sea of humanity, but kept on walking; following an intuition that had saved her more times than she could count. A car honked its horn at her as she dashed across the road, the driver swearing at her, but then was cut short, possibly once he saw the dark uniform of Colonel Walker following along behind, his weapon held subtly against his leg.

A flash of the dark coat and dark hair above it came into view up ahead and Teyla moved faster towards the back, sure now it was the woman. The head turned and, through the gap between shoppers, Teyla saw the woman's face. Her dark eyes latched instantly onto Teyla's and she turned away quickly, sharply turning into a road to the left. Teyla shoved her way forward ignoring the complaints and insults thrown at her.

The left turn led to a less occupied street. The woman's back disappeared down one alley to the left ahead; she was heading back towards the shore. Teyla ran forward, checking over her shoulder that Ronon was indeed right behind her and Colonel Walker a little behind him. Satisfied that she had back up, Teyla made her way to the corner of the alleyway and carefully peered around it. The woman was walking down the middle of it, a drunken man sat beside a dustbin staring up at her with a heavy frown as she passed. Teyla ran into the alleyway.

"Halt!" Colonel Walker shouted down the alleyway. The woman kept walking and the drunk held up his hands with a worried expression. "Stop!" The Colonel ordered again.

Teyla ran on after the woman. "Please, stop," she called. "We only wish to speak with you."

The woman did turn her head this time and Teyla caught the flash of eyes as dark as her hair and coat. "There is nothing to discuss," the woman called over her shoulder not slowing her step as she did. The voice was like anyone else's and Teyla was surprised, for she had expected a beautiful or unusual voice or accent.

"We wish to discuss the attack that occurred here three days ago," Teyla called out to her, being cautious about what she said out loud in the city.

"I had nothing to do with that," the woman returned as she turned the next corner and disappeared down another alleyway. "Leave me alone."

Teyla turned into the new alley to see that ahead it opened up to another main street; they had to stop her in this alley or she would get away again. "Stop now," Teyla ordered, trying a new tactic.

The woman looked over her shoulder again and her eyes studied Teyla with an intensity that almost made Teyla stop in her tracks. The woman gave her a slightly challenging smile before she turned back towards her exit up ahead.

"Stop or I will shoot you," Colonel Walker shouted out from behind Teyla.

Teyla had no idea if the Colonel would shoot this woman, for there was no suspicion here on this woman in Teyla's mind. She appeared to know about the Wraith and was tracking it as they were, surely that made them allies, not enemies.

"I believe we have the same goal," Teyla shouted as she hurried on faster, gaining a little more ground on the woman.

"That does not concern me," the woman called back.

"We could help each other," Teyla tried.

"I have no need of anyone's assistance."

"We can't have you running around on your own crusade," Colonel Walker called out, presumably willing to try something other than shooting.

The woman shook her head, her hair sliding over her shoulders, over her coat that looked old and well worn. Teyla thought she heard a word muttered, but she could not make it out.

"Who are you?" Teyla asked, as the exit to the main street grew even closer.

"Do not try to stop me," the woman called back over her shoulder as the alley exit was only a few metres from her.

Beside Teyla Ronon lifted his weapon higher, sighting along it, no doubt selecting a non fatal target on the woman.

"A warning shot," Colonel Walker ordered quietly.

Teyla opened her mouth to protest, but what happened next prevented her from saying whatever it was she had intended.

The woman stopped abruptly, turning back towards them, her arms thrust out in front of her and a sudden irresistible rush of wind cascaded down the alleyway and Teyla was thrown back.

A trashcan flew towards Teyla and she lifted her hands to protect herself from the impact. Paper, leaves and debris gusted over her as she fell back, the ground a harsh violent strike against her back. Behind her she heard Ronon's grunt over the heavy sound of his body hitting the ground further down the alley.

The abrupt violent torrent of wind stopped as suddenly as it had appeared and Teyla lowered her arms, sitting up, pieces of paper still drifting down around her. The woman had gone.

------  
TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter: **4

**Rating: **M

-------

"So you guys got knocked over by a breeze?" John asked. The three of them frowned up at him, though Ronon's held more annoyance, Teyla's amusement and Walker's embarrassment.

John had only just landed his Jumper back into the base when they had arrived, having lost the mysterious woman's tracks completely. They had reported everything that had happened and as they did, John couldn't help thinking about Helen of Troy. Had Todd's comment been a warning? Or coincidence?

"It was more like a tornado, Sir," Walker replied. Carson was working on tidying up the small cut across the Colonel's left cheek. They were all fine, other than a few bumps and bruises, though they did look like they had been rolled down an alleyway. The vague smell of garbage bins lingered in the air around them.

"And you're sure she was responsible?" John asked.

Teyla lowered the ice pack she had been holding against one side of her neck. "It was her and there is only one type of individual I have heard as being able to manipulate such natural forces."

John had already gotten there himself, but it was always good to know others were on the same page. "You think she's an Ancient."

"I know of no others capable of such feats," she replied as she reapplied the ice pack. She was looking tired again, that spoke of more than simply having been thrown down a street by a freak tornado.

"Well, it's our best guess for now. And she's after the Wraith as well?"

Teyla tested her shoulder with her free hand as she looked up at John from under her dark eyelashes. "She did not deny it and the Wraith is definitely aware of her and fears her."

"The Wraith is scared of her?" Rodney asked from where he had been sitting quietly across the room. John looked over at his friend and teammate; it was unusual for him to be so quiet, and John suspected he was unnerved by the Wraith's presence on Earth. Who wasn't? And now they had a possible Ancient running round as well.

"All I was able to learn from his mind was that he is heading somewhere very important to him and that he wishes to stay well ahead of the woman. He…hates her," Teyla supplied.

John looked back at her. "Can you track him?"

"I am sure I can reconnect with his mind, but unless he passes landscapes I can recognise, I am not sure how to track him. I am sorry," she admitted.

"No need to apologise, Teyla, you're doing the best you can and it's a hell of a lot more than we've been able to do," John reassured her. He couldn't help but notice Walker's wince out the corner of his eye.

"He has three days' head start on us, how can we find him?" Rodney asked.

"Maybe the woman will catch him," Walker suggested.

"If she does, I say let her kill him," Ronon muttered.

"We can't know for sure that she's an Ancient and we don't know what side she's on," John said.

"She wants to catch the Wraith; what else is there to know?" Ronon protested. Clearly he was more than a little upset at having been dumped on his ass in the alleyway.

"We don't know if she'll be more trouble than a Wraith," John suggested.

"What's worse than a Wraith?" Ronon argued.

"Try going up against Ori," Walker muttered.

"The Asgard in Pegasus were hardly that friendly," Rodney added.

John held up his hands up. "We can play 'who's the worst bad guy' later, for now we need to work out how to trace the Wraith."

"I can try to contact it again," Teyla offered.

"Okay, when you're ready, we'll start with that," John replied. "Until then..."

A door opened behind them and one of the SGC assigned to John entered. "Colonel Sheppard, we have another report of a Wraith killing and a possible sighting."

------

Detective Simpson frowned at the approaching dark cars sweeping towards the car lot from the busy road. She had known the military were on their way, but she had been hoping that she would have had more time to piece the bizarre series of events together first.

The first body had been found lying in the trees outside a stop along the highway as it passed the city. The victim had been identified from his clothes and from his truck which had sat unclaimed in the car lot of the eatery. His body had been unrecognisable, and only dental work would confirm for sure who it was. The twisted, desiccated remains had been shocking to look on, not that she hadn't seen plenty of dead bodies over the years, but this man had been missing only a few hours. His body had looked like it had been sitting out in the open for months, if not longer. The skin had been shrunken in and dried like he had been hydrated before any decomposition had begun. In fact, the pathologist had been stunned, citing that it might be some form of modern mummification. Of course by then the military had heard about it and the autopsy had been stopped before it had barely began.

Then a call had come in of another body found on the other side of the city. A homeless man's body had been found in an alleyway and there had been a witness this time; a local beat cop who kept a close eye on those guys, making sure they had enough to eat and weren't drinking too much around the night life areas. She had done the same herself, back when she had been walking a beat. The cop had noticed the victim enter an alleyway, and had followed him concerned about the guy's new painful looking limp. He had almost reached the corner when he reported hearing a straggled scream. He had rushed down the alleyway, radioing it in, to see a tall man stood over the victim. Then things had gotten weird again. The assailant had run, which in that case meant leaping up and over a wall. The beat cop swore the guy had done it with one leap and would no doubt be ribbed over that for days, if not years, to come.

He had also supplied a description; tall, well built, long dark jacket, very pale skin and shockingly white hair. A good clear description and an unusual appearance for a killer. Of course the victim he had left behind had not been a simple victim of a normal killing. The drunk had been turned into another modern mummy in the three minutes it had taken the cop to reach and enter the alley.

The description had been sent out, and in five minutes reports had started to fly in. The man had been spotted two more times, running across roads and gardens, clearly avoiding the police. And the final report had lead Simpson here; the train station. The video coverage of the lot had shown the subject running across the lot at an amazing speed. Two witnesses, their homes overlooking one part of the railway line, had seen the suspect running down the embankment to the rails and then 'had leaped like he used a trampoline' up and onto a passing train.

Then Simpson had received the call to stop all her investigations and that she was to brief the military personnel being sent in. Angered, and more than a little tired from her long shift, she turned back towards the dark cars. Their occupants were making their way across the station parking lot towards her. She had had to deal with the military a few times over the years, after all there were two bases barely a stone's throw away from the city, but these people who were making their way quickly towards her seemed unusual. They were, mostly, dressed in non-descript black uniforms and held a level of professionalism about them that reassured her.

"Detective Simpson?" The lead man asked her as they neared. Simpson nodded, trying desperately not to stare too openly at the gorgeous man.

"Yes, I'm Simpson," she replied.

"I'm Colonel Sheppard and this is my team. Can you brief us on what you've found since you got here?" He asked politely.

Still a little taken back by the band of 'models r us' that were his team she turned back towards the main station building and pointed up towards the subtle, and sometimes more obviously placed, cameras overlooking the lot.

"We took a look at the tapes overlooking the lot and spotted the suspect heading through the cars headed in that direction." She pointed off to the right past the main building and began heading along the path in that direction. "Two witnesses in the houses overlooking the track reported seeing a tall white haired man leaping up onto a passing train."

"When was this exactly?" The polite Colonel asked.

"They couldn't be specific, but we estimate from all factors that this was about half an hour ago now."

"Do you know which train he boarded?"

The path reached the side wall of the main station and the sunken railway track came into view. The embankment ran downwards at a seriously steep angle. "This is a very busy station Colonel, trains leave in that direction every two minutes. However, we've been able to narrow it down to four trains close enough to this track in the time frame." She turned to the handsome man. "I should mention that he wasn't seen 'boarding' the train, in the usual take on that term. The witnesses reported he leapt up onto the roof, from the embankment." She pointed down to the steep angle of the bank below them.

"We're going to need those train details and the tapes from the lot."

Simpson turned to the page in her notebook on which she had listed the train details. The man reached out towards her and lifted his eyebrows. With a heavy sigh Simpson ripped out the page from her notebook. "I guess you're going to want all our notes, right?" The man took the page from her with a smile that almost made up for the treatment.

"Sorry, but you know how this goes."

She tore out the other few pages that had the relevant notes. "I guess the dead bodies will disappear as well?"

"Already gone, I'm afraid," he said as he took the last pages from her.

She closed her notebook and met the man's nice green eyes and finally smiled herself. "You're not going to tell me what's going on are you."

He smiled again, and she thought she detected a flash of interest from him. "Sorry, Detective."

"Jackie," she offered him.

He inclined his head with another smile. "Thank you for your help, Jackie.

------

Rodney struggled with the map as the car turned another corner at far too fast a speed. "Do we really need to be travelling so fast? We're feeling a little travel sick back here," Rodney complained as he spread the map out across his lap.

"We've almost caught up, Rodney," Sheppard replied from the row of seats in front, but it was Colonel Walker who was up the front of the car driving like a maniac.

"When we get to the base I need a proper laptop. Paper is dead," he muttered as the map, acquired from the train station, crumpled up against the seat again.

"I'll get you all you need once we're there," Sheppard replied with more generosity than normal. Rodney frowned at him; it probably had something to do with that pretty detective who had been flirting with him; typical.

"How can we be sure this is the train the Wraith is on?" Teyla asked as struggled to stay upright as Walker took the car around another tight turn. Rodney noticed Sheppard had wedged his shoulder against Teyla's to help keep her upright, or was it to stop her from falling over his lap?

Rodney turned back to the map that was spread across his lap and onto Carson's next to him. The red line on the map showed the line of the railway track they were currently following. "It's one of two that continue on the south westerly line that he has consistently followed," he explained to her. "This one is the most likely of the two, in terms of what time he was seen leaving the railway parking lot and the time it passed the witnesses' homes."

"Train's ahead," Walker all but shouted from the front seat. All eyes turned to the flashes of the train across the space between the road they were currently speeding along and the track.

"Can you tell us if he's on that train?" Sheppard asked Teyla.

"I will try," she replied. Rodney couldn't see her from the back seat, but he had seen her go through this before, though admittedly not whilst speeding along like this. She would have her eyes closed, her face falling into that gentle expression of focus and inward attention. Her shoulders lifted and lowered several times, her breaths loud in the car despite the bumps the car was almost launched over. Sheppard and Ronon, both seated beside Teyla, supported her through the bumpy ride, their hands gentle against her elbows.

"Slow it a bit, Walker," Sheppard ordered quietly.

Rodney looked back down at the map and traced their position once again with his finger. "There's a station coming up in about…three minutes."

"Great, step on it Walker," Sheppard ordered, in direct contradiction to his previous order.

"I see it," Teyla whispered drawing all their attention back to her. "Feel the breeze…the air over it." She gasped and leant forward in her seat, staring out the front towards the train they were now almost parallel with.

"Is it on the train?" Sheppard asked, though all of them were turning in their seats as the car drew level with the back end of the train. Rodney leant to the left side, the map forgotten over his lap, as were Carson's muttered complaints about being crushed. Rodney couldn't see any obvious Wraith seated on top of the train; he had imagined the creature seated on top enjoying the view.

"I am not sure," Teyla said her eyes locked onto the train, leaning towards the window herself, over John's lap, to see the train. "I can feel its presence, though." She added. "Close."

The train began to turn away from its parallel line with the road. Rodney turned back to the map. "The station's up ahead to the left," he shouted down the car to Walker.

"Follow the signs ahead," Sheppard ordered as well as the car took another sharp turn.

Four more neck breaking turns and Rodney was seriously feeling like he was going to be sick, but a station came into view up ahead.

"The train has stopped," Teyla uttered. "It _is_ on that train."

The car swung round to pass over a bridge overlooking the station the train now still below them. Walker brought the car to an abrupt stop and all of them turned towards their nearest window to look down on the train below them.

-------

Teyla stared down over the bridge's wall to the long stretch of the train below her. The Wraith's presence was thick now, like it was close enough to be able to touch it. She closed her eyes and felt into the sensation, forcing into it and demanding to know what the Wraith saw with as much caution as she dared.

Cool late afternoon air stirred over its face as it looked out at the platform filled with humans. Its hunger was clear again, as it scanned for any potential victims who would climb on board; people travelling alone and appearing weak.

Teyla opened her eyes, her own senses returning; the stuffy quality to the inside of the car, John's body heat against her side and the subtle scent of his aftershave still lingering around him despite the late hour of the day.

Her eyes ran down the train to the second to last section and she stared at the open space where the two sections joined. She felt the Wraith's mind stir against her subtle touch; it had sensed her. She opened her mouth to warn the others, but then a shadow moved down the train and she saw the Wraith's head appear; its focus directly on them.

"There," she shouted feeling John flinch next to her at her loud exclamation. He already had the door open and was stepping out onto the bridge, his weapon lifting. The Wraith ducked back down under the cover of the train, but John was moving to follow it.

"It's on the platform," she heard him call as the door shut in front of her and he passed the car door, running along the bridge. Ronon was already out of the other side door, and Walker had the car moving forward. Teyla reached out and pulled Ronon's open door closed as the car turned down the road into the station car park. Teyla looked back towards the bridge to see John and Ronon jumping down to the level of the platform.

The car halted in the lot and Teyla jumped out, her gun in her hand, held down by her leg. Colonel Walker was behind her and she heard Rodney shout that he would guard the car. But, Teyla had only one focus and that was directed towards the screaming people running out the main entrance of the station. Her earpiece burst to life in her ear with John's voice reporting the Wraith was indeed on the platform. She pushed past the scared people and into the old dark building and then out into the pale light of the platform beyond.

John and Ronon stood to her left, their weapons drawn and to her right the Wraith held a young woman up against its chest; a human shield. It was a tall, strongly built Wraith, his long white hair tied back into long tails, some decorated with dark beads. He snarled as he turned, turning his shield further round to block her angle as well as John and Ronon's.

Its yellow eyes connected with hers and a strange chilled feeling passed over her. The last time she had felt such a feeling had been against the queen who, unbeknownst to them, had been sleeping deep under the ocean beneath Atlantis. An very old mind, ancient even.

The platform was empty of all other civilians save the poor woman held hostage.

"Let her go," John ordered the Wraith as he and Ronon edged along the platform.

The Wraith lifted its upper lip in a snarl as its eyes turned from Teyla towards John.

"I will kill her," it hissed, its slurred words implying to Teyla that it was using a language it did not normally use.

"You'll need more than a second to drain her and we'll shoot you before that happens," John replied.

Teyla saw the surprise on the Wraith's face and it looked back at her, its eyes narrowing. It kept moving backwards down the platform, the woman held up high against it, her feet struggling to touch the ground beneath her. Teyla locked eyes with the woman and gave her a reassuring look, before she looked back at the Wraith. And she felt its decision an instant before it acted.

The woman was hurled forward towards them with enough force that they had to reach for her to prevent her, or them, being injured. Teyla and Walker, being stood to the side, stepped around as John and Ronon as they caught up the woman. Colonel Walker's gun fired and Teyla followed suit. The Wraith had turned and took at least two bullets into its back as it jumped down off the far end of the platform. Teyla rushed forward, hearing fighting beyond the platform and found the dazed body of one of the team lying in the gravel. She leapt down over the man and followed round the building to see the Wraith running across the car lot, more weapons fire following it. It reached the far side of the lot and jumped over the fence and she saw the flash of its shockingly white hair as it jumped over the next fence beyond.

"It's in the field beyond," someone shouted over the radio. Teyla ran on, aware of Ronon beside her and John behind her.

"Get the second car moving," John ordered over the radio and Teyla saw the second dark car swing out of the car lot ahead, its doors still closing. She didn't stop to see if their car was on the way as she had reached the fence and jumped over it as the Wraith had done. The next fence was lower and she could already see the Wraith's back as it powered across the open space. In the distance on the other side of the open grass there were the tall buildings of a small city, or town.

"Carson bring the car around," John was shouting now and Teyla turned to see their car pulling up behind them, Carson behind the wheel. She turned and ran towards the car, following Ronon and John back into the second row of seats. Colonel Walker was remaining back on the platform to handle the situation there, and she heard him report the hostage was unharmed.

The car swung out onto the road that ran alongside the field, but Teyla could already see the Wraith was running, at a very impressive speed, away at an angle that would make it difficult for them to follow. Then she saw the dark streak of the other car breaking through a gate ahead, entering the field, pursuing the Wraith. Carson raced the car to catch up, and when he reached the tattered remains of the gate to the field he turned in as well and 'floored it', as John had ordered, in pursuit.

Teyla looked from the distance between the Wraith and the car ahead. "They will not catch him," she uttered.

"There's enough time," John argued.

Teyla was already shaking her head. She could feel the Wraith's determination; it would not be stopped now and it was clearly a very powerful Wraith. There was no fear she realised; it wanted time and distance, but it did not fear them in the least.

"See," John interrupted her thought and she saw that the first car was right on the tail of the Wraith. The Wraith dropped to its knees, hopefully due to weapons fire, but then turned and flew at the car. "Damn it," John swore beside her. "Carson get us there."

"I'm doing the best I can," Carson shouted back over the sound of the bumping bed of vehicle beneath them and the distant sound of shots.

They made it there in time to see a black figured man be hurled out from the car, straight in front of them and Carson turned the wheel just in time to save the poor man from being run over by his own people. Teyla had the car door open before the car had even begun to slow and she fired at the Wraith stood up on the hood of the first car. The door behind her slammed open and she heard Ronon's firing from above the roof. The Wraith snarled, its body shaking from the impact, but it reached down into the broken windscreen of the first car and pulled one of their people up and out. Another human shield in place, Teyla stopped firing and jumped out of the car, John behind her, his hand pushing against her shoulder. She fanned out with him to the right trying to gain a cross fire on the Wraith.

It jumped down to hide behind the car, forcing them to run around the car as cautiously as possible, but they could already hear the hostage cry out and sure enough they moved round the car to see the Wraith draining life from one of their own. Teyla fired into it and it spun round. They were much closer now and it struck out at her physically. Gunfire stopped from behind her due to the close quarters. She blocked the strike it had thrown at her to knock her weapon aside and she kicked out, dropping down lower to give the others firing space. John's weapon thundered behind her and the Wraith snarled as it took a series of more bullets into its chest. It reached down for her and Teyla pulled up her weapon and fired at the palm reaching down for her.

The Wraith turned and reached into the car again, pulling out another man, who had also fired into it. How many bullets could this Wraith take? It was screaming itself now and the sound mingled with the cries of the man as his life was taken. Ronon's roar echoed over it as he jumped down on the Wraith from the car's roof. The impact knocked the man from the Wraith's hand, but he had hardly any life left; it had happened so quickly. The Wraith took the force of Ronon's jump into it and it fell backwards and Teyla had a moment to roll aside, or risk being crushed. More firing around her and the thumping of fists flying was all she could hear as she struggled back to her knees and looked round.

The Wraith lifted Ronon from him, a display of strength that was truly impressive. Ronon struck downwards with his boots, catching the Wraith in its lower body, and had it been a human it would have been a useful hit. However, male Wraith were not as vulnerable in that particular area as human males were, but still the Wraith's strength faltered and Teyla fired into it again, but there was only a bullet or two left and she had to reload. She pulled back, John stepping forward in front of her, to load a new clip into her weapon and she heard a dull thud. Ronon cried out and she felt the car shudder. She looked up to see Ronon lying by the car, blood running down his face. John fired, but the Wraith was rushing towards them. Teyla stepped around, hoping to strike at the Wraith's side and John fired point blank range into it.

The Wraith howled in pain and staggered blood, dripping down its chin, but it still had enough energy to reach John and it fell forward onto him. Teyla struck out at it, her knife draw from its scabbard against her calf in an instant. She thrust down into the Wraith's back, only to feel the metallic wall beneath its clothing, which explained why it was still moving after so many bullet wounds. The Wraith turned, trying to shrug her off its back and John kicked up at it and together they forced the Wraith to roll away.

It was up and running in an instant and it took Teyla a moment to steady herself enough to fire towards its retreating back, trying to hit areas less likely to be protected by its advanced armour. Ronon ran past her, his angry cry filling the air. Teyla kept firing as long as she could, but soon Ronon and then John were in her path of fire.

"Team three; report," John shouted into his radio, his breathing so fast that she barely understood him.

"We're still on the road to your far right, Sir," the third car reported in. It had been following along behind them at a distance, acting as back up, which was now most definitely required.

"It's going to reach the buildings, we need to try and cut it off," John ordered. "Be aware; it's wearing some kind of advanced body armour."

"On it, Sir," the man replied.

As she ran, Teyla looked back over to the road, but it was too far away for her to see the other car. They would try to meet the Wraith on the outskirts of the town, but she already knew that this Wraith would need more to stop it.

"We have people down in the field, Carson is with them, but he'll need backup," John added.

The Wraith had reached the edge of the field and Teyla saw it leap up over the chain link fence that led to the beginnings of the settlement. Ronon was close behind, but with his broken nose, Teyla had to image he was both in pain and partly blinded with blood.

"Target has reached the town," John reported in.

"Too many roads this side, Sir, its taking time to get there," the third car reported.

John reached the fence now and he began to climb it, but it slowed him enough for Teyla to reach his side. She reached up, grasped the links and pulled herself up and over the fence in two quick swings. She landed in the heavily churned mud that held both the Wraith's and Ronon's boot prints. John landed beside her.

"Show off," he muttered with a winded laugh. They ran on across the grass area ahead of them, broken rusted frames of metal lying to one side. Up ahead there was a narrow street and she could see Ronon down the far end fighting with the Wraith. She heard the slam of something hitting flesh and saw Ronon fall back against one wall and the Wraith disappeared around the corner.

"Team three, report!" John shouted into the radio as they both ran down the street. Ronon was picking himself up from the ground, blood across his cheek now as over his nose. "Ronon, pull back," John tried, but Teyla knew Ronon wasn't going to stop.

"We're turning into the road parallel to the field, Sir," the voice replied.

Ronon was up and around the corner by the time Teyla and John reached him. They ran on, their combined rapid breathing loud in the enclosed tight walls herding them onwards. At the far end of the street Teyla could see a road and saw people running away across it. A high pitched scream told her someone was being fed upon. Then there was a loud crashing sound.

"We have engaged the target," team three reported and up ahead there came the rapid sound of gunfire.

They reached the end of the narrow street to see something like a war zone. The Wraith stood on top of the hood of car three, his hands, as before, dragging someone out through the broken glass. The woman in his hands lifted her gun and pressed it up towards the Wraith's throat and it dropped her down onto the hood to stop her. Teyla began to fire into its back, but it turned, glass flying from his hands towards her and John. Teyla thrust out towards John, even as she felt him dragging her down with him. They fell down together in a tangle of limbs and weapons. Teyla's breath was forced out of her and she gasped against John's side, hearing him grunt out with the impact. As Teyla pulled in a clean breath John was already moving.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she reported as together they both turned back towards the fighting.

The Wraith had one of the car doors in his hand, torn away from the vehicle, and had cut out at a soldier near him. Blood spurted over the torn metal edge of the door as the man fell, and the Wraith followed him. Teyla climbed up onto her feet, John's hand assisting her as the both ran back towards the car.

"Head shots, people," John reminded them all, but there were only two more soldiers alive that Teyla could see. One was firing through the open space where the car door had been into the Wraith, where it appeared to be feeding off the man it had cut down with the door. Teyla ran round the hood of the car towards the Wraith's back and lifted her weapon towards the usually exposed area behind its neck, only to see that its coat, and armour beneath, extended up over the back of its neck. So, she shifted her attention to the back of its head.

The Wraith jerked away from the car, out of her narrowed sight and she saw its blood leaking from the side of its neck. In speed that was mostly a blur to her, it reached into the car and latched onto the soldier who had shot it. With a cry of violence like she had never heard before Ronon was on top of the hood and was reaching in towards the Wraith who was draining the solider. The Wraith pushed forward, rolling out the other car door with its victim still in its grip. Ronon, jumped down after it.

John was moving around the back end of the car hoping to get around the back of the Wraith. Teyla ran around the front to see Ronon trading punches with the Wraith. The Wraith had fed so much and it was clear to Teyla now that the armour it was wearing beneath its coat extended down its arms, as it struck out with its elbow into Ronon's shoulder and there was the flash of blood. Teyla lifted her weapon towards the Wraith's head as Ronon fell down to the ground clutching his shoulder.

The Wraith turned towards her and threw out its hand and a knife sailed towards Teyla's face. She threw herself backwards, knowing it would open her self to further attack, but it was all she could do. The ground hit her back yet again, but this time she rolled quickly into it and stood up. The Wraith had turned towards John.

There was a new flash of movement and something dark and fast jumped down from the top of the car and landed solidly on the Wraith; the mystery woman.

-------  
TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter: **5

-------

The Wraith fell down under her attack, almost falling upon the large male human, who, though bleeding from his shoulder and face, was still trying to kick at the Wraith. She brought her knife down in a sharp angle up towards the creature's face, but it saw her attack and twisted away in time. Its body shook under her, his large muscular legs kneeing up at her. She jumped back up to her feet to avoid the impact and injury. She cut down at his legs, aiming for the join in his armour around his knees.

He twisted away from her, rolling away from the human still trying to hit his face. The humans around her, panting with exhaustion, were pulling back to give her space. The Wraith's attention was entirely on her now, but she knew it would use the humans if it could. A few bullets struck the Wraith's side, rising up towards his exposed face. She remembered the day when his kind had worn the metallic face shield and helmet as well as the body armour, which had driven fear into the ancient fearful humans. She had smashed this one's face shield a long time ago and he had discarded the helmet some time later.

Now it saw the human's clear tactics in aiming for its vulnerable points and so ran at her, knowing they would not shoot at her. That had not always been the case with human kind. Before, the righteous who had hunted it and all they named 'demons', would still have lashed out and she had been injured herself many times from the strikes of the humans she would have been able to save had they not turned on her. In fact, had it not been for that very event last time, she would have killed this one along with the others. She could feel now that he had not entirely healed from their last battle; he would need to feed further, but she knew that only made it more dangerous.

She could see the anger and malice in its eyes as it jumped forward at her, but she held her ground, turning and lashing up with her blade. It grabbed at her arm, wrenching hard at her wrist to turn her knife. It had the superior strength and the knife clattered to the ground as it twisted her grip, but she had more knives. He knew that fact and was once again grabbing at her other arm. She gathered her energies and lifted herself up and struck out hard at its middle with both her feet. It flew back from her, its hold on her wrist, which could have been moments from a feeding hold, was broken. It hit the wall across the road, pieces of the wall falling down with it as it toppled forward to the ground. She ran at it, scooping up her fallen knife as she did, but the Wraith was already recovering and she saw it kick out at a waist high pillar near it. The hard solid material of the pillar cracked away from the ground and the Wraith was reaching for it as she approached. In a display of strength she had seen many times, he lifted up the pillar and threw it at her.

She danced to the side at the last moment, past the wide eyes of the human female she had seen previously. She was impressed that these humans had caught up so quickly with the Wraith, but then human technology had advanced considerably during her latest sleep, which had allowed her to reach the Wraith just in time. The pillar crashed into the already dented human vehicle behind her as she twisted round and back towards the Wraith. She drew in a breath, pulling towards her what she would need. The Wraith, after so many long ages through which they had battled, anticipated her attack and rushed back towards her. But, as it did it kicked up a piece of the pillar up towards the human male who was now firing at its head. The human cried out, more from anger than injury she thought, as she ran to meet the Wraith's attack.

They clashed with a violent impact and she smashed out at its head, but it managed to grip onto her arms again with bruising force and she kicked out violently at him, hearing his breath forced from him and feeling bones breaking under her assault. Behind her she heard the blaring sounds of more human vehicles screeching to a halt; more fodder for the Wraith. Humans presented not only distractions, but also potential food for the Wraith. He was weakening now, despite the lives he had taken very recently and he would use these humans to empower himself again. Yet, the humans had also advanced, so perhaps she could use them now.

She broke his hold on one of her arms and reached down, pulling one knife out from her hip and she struck at the break in the armour around its nearest shoulder. The Wraith twisted back, grabbing her wrist to stop her attack. She attacked with a second knife in her other hand slashing up into the space around his other shoulder. The blade slid in between the panels and found his vulnerable flesh. He shouted in violent pain, but she twisted the knife, forcing the panels further apart. She had learnt how to open the armour long ago and he knew that. She felt his fear flash through him, as his back was turned to the new arrival of armed humans who were joining their comrades.

She dropped one knife and thrust her palm against the panel and with a flash of energy she burnt through it into his flesh. He screamed out in pain and growing rage and pulled back from her, the armour's fastenings breaking and the panel swung free from one side of his back. A human shouted an order and their weapons fired. She was protected by the Wraith's body, and she felt his body shudder with the impact of the bullets, but he was turning, using her now as a shield. His hand tight around one of her wrists slipped, seeking her flesh to restore his draining energy, and she felt him latch onto her. She heard herself cry out, but she kicked at him again as she once again thrust her hand against him and burnt into his flesh. He screamed now as well and they turned, both locked in a twisting spinning battle that seemed unending.

But, finally he released her, having barely taken a few drops of her life force, but it would power him greatly as compared to a normal human's energy. She kicked at him again, but he had shifted his grip and she was flying through the air. The wall hit her fully in her back and her head smacked back against the solidly made wall. Everything swam around her for a moment and she felt her legs go out from under her as she dropped to the ground.

She heard humans shouting and firing, and the rapid repetitive sound of running. Her head was gradually clearing and she opened her eyes to the sight of the human female from earlier, crouching down in front of her with a worried expression. Pieces of the wall and the remains of the pillar littered the ground around them.

Reality was suddenly back full force and her mind was clear once again. All aches and pains from the impact were gone and she stood up. Other humans were around her now, but she did not need to rest as they suggested, so she ignored them for the fight was still ongoing. A quick scan of the area and she located the Wraith's mind. Turning in that direction she saw the backs of humans disappearing around a corner and she raced after them.

A long line of humans were ahead of her all in pursuit of the Wraith. She heard more firing and felt the anger of the Wraith raise even further. They were making it run, which was not what she wanted or what was needed. It needed to be stopped now and these humans did not have what was needed to take it down. So, she pushed past them, ignoring their complaints and questions, until she was in the lead behind the Wraith. It turned tightly around a corner and then began climbing up onto the roof of a one storey building. She reached the wall as he disappeared over the top and she climbed quickly after it, aware of the human female and tall male right behind her. She felt a moment of surprised admiration for them, for a normal human should not be able to keep up with her, especially after battling a Wraith.

She kept her focus on the chase though, as she dashed across the roof of the flat building, but the furthest end was butted up against a much taller building, which the Wraith was now climbing his way up with great speed; no doubt born from her drops of stolen energy. She followed in its path, scaling the wall, as she heard the humans encircling the building below, orders flying back and forth between them.

She reached the top of the tall building and to her dismay she saw the Wraith jumping down from the far end onto a metal walkway, which stretched out over a rushing sea of fast running vehicles beneath. She ran on, but the Wraith barely paused as it jumped down onto a tall flat topped truck that passed under the walkway.

With a loud savage sigh of frustration she watched the tall truck speed away, unaware of its deadly extra cargo. The humans were heading up the walkway, but the truck was already turning a corner in the road ahead, taking it out of sight. She stopped at the edge of the roof and muttered a few harsh words to herself, before she reached out and latched onto the Wraith's mind. It felt smug, but still cautious and she sensed its plan to remain on the truck for the time being; she would need transport to catch up.

She pushed deeper into the creature's mind, but still it kept its destination blocked from her. She needed to get close enough to it for long enough to break into its surprisingly strong mental barrier. She needed time and focus to prise the information free from it, and time was something that was remaining difficult as she was, once again, straining to catch up. She detached from its thoughts, centring herself once again.

The large human male grunted angrily from her left and she turned to find him staring out in the direction the Wraith had gone with a glowering regretful expression. Blood bled down his face and she could feel he was weak in one shoulder from an open wound. She had been caught by that technique of the Wraith a long time ago. Her eyes dropped to the man's chest to see a necklace had been pulled partly free from his clothes; Wraith bones.

Below her the humans were swarming around the base of the building and she looked down at the lead male, who stood looking up at her and those around her, as he spoke rapidly into his communication device. His attention lifted up from her as a dark shadow descended over the rooftop and she looked upwards as the flying craft flew over her head. Blades turned above it as the metallic craft flew out towards the road down which the Wraith had disappeared. She smiled. They had more resources than she had expected. These resources would allow her to track and reach the Wraith much faster.

She looked back down to the humans below who were climbing into new dark coloured vehicles that had arrived. These were warriors and interestingly had seemed to understand what it was they were facing when they had fought the Wraith. Normally when humans first saw Wraith feeding, and its consequences, they were terrified and shocked, their world view shaken to its core, but not these. These humans knew what they fought, and judging by the bones strung around the tall male's neck; they had some possible experience killing Wraith.

She looked down to the lead male again, who had finished with his orders and was now looking up at her, his hands resting on his weapon. He was tired, but he was ready to fight on. She met his gaze and saw intelligence and, oddly, amusement there. His mind, as she gently sensed it, was very strong, though that was not as surprising as the subtle sensation of his genetic strength. Now she was focused on them she realised that more of the humans around her had the touch of genetic heritance to them, though in some it felt dim and unnatural to her. More surprises.

"So," the lead male called up to her, "you wanna come down and we can talk?"

Yes, definitely humour there, but still the iron backbone of a warrior. She decided then that perhaps the convergence she had felt before held more than just the female behind her. So, she moved to the ledge and jumped down. She knew the height would shock them and that the display was be important; they needed to understand that she was capable of more than them, for that knowledge may keep them alive for longer.

"I would prefer to find the creature first," she replied to the male as she walked towards him.

Others bristled, protecting their leader, their weapons focused towards her. She stopped and held out her hands, showing her bare empty palms to them. These new projectile weapons were considerably more advanced than the last primitive versions she had come up against.

"We've got people on it," the lead male told her as he indicated the flying vehicle in the distance. "Would you like a lift?" He asked.

-------

The air was cold against his skin as he held onto the flat surface of the vehicle's roof. He turned and looked back up towards the distant sensation of humans above him. He could make out the darker shape through the clouds, his eyesight easily picking out the flying vehicle; they were tracking him still.

He pulled back his lips in distaste. He would have to leave the road, or they would simply follow him all the way to his destination. He turned his attention back down to the road and regarded the other vehicles racing by in their strict lines. A tall bright sign went past on the hillside and he knew enough of the human language to understand what it meant. He waited until the right moment, waiting for dark shadows to cover him and clouds to thicken over head and then leapt down onto a smaller vehicle, crushing its front under his weight and then he leapt away landing on the empty side of the road. He raced up the embankment, the tall sun warmed walls no obstacle to him as he vaulted up and over to the grass verge and trees beyond.

He ran through them, turning his trail, not running directly in the direction in which he sensed the most humans nearby. He heard the flying craft alter course and lower in the sky, but he was well hidden. He followed the tree line where it thinned, moving with as much speed as he could. He was sure that humans here had no idea how fast a Wraith could run and his recent snatches of feeding had, though still not ideal, filled his body with renewed vigour.

He broke through the trees to see a wide open area, the humans he could sense not too far away. Heavy scents lingered in the air, telling him that human food was being prepared in the building across the space. He made his way around the area, treading heavily into the ground as he circled the parked vehicles, making his way round to the taller ones. He paused across from them, watching for movement from the building. He rocked his heels into the soil beneath him and pushed off across the hard flat surface towards the vehicles.

---------

The group was gathered around the front end of the dark windowed car. A tablet sat on the hot hood of the car and currently John was pointing to an area on a map displayed on its screen. Teyla leant a little further forward and focused on the small patch of road which John was pointing to with his clean closely clipped fingernail. She looked up towards the sound of the distant turning blades of the chopper in the distance, which was hovering over the area indicated by John. She shifted her gaze to the sinking sun behind it.

"Anything on heat seekers?" John demanded down the radio.

"Sorry, Sir. The ground and air are still too warm, which is making it difficult, but we're pretty sure we've located the area at which it left the road."

"You sure?" John asked.

"Yes, Sir. It bagged up a car as it left the road. We're tracking through the trees to see if we can find a trace of it." The disembodied voice shouted through the background noise on the other end of the radio. Teyla squinted at the distant shape again. John had promised to take her and Ronon up in a 'chopper' one day.

"Anything nearby?" John asked.

"Nothing in the immediate area, Sir."

"It will head towards the closest location where there are humans to feed upon," the mystery woman announced into the conversation.

Teyla turned her attention away from the distant vehicle in the sky and regarded the woman stood beside her. She was about John's height and she had long shoulder length black hair, with equally black eyes set below a straight cut fringe. Her skin was a light brown colour, her cheeks high and proud and overall her features created a face that was not too usual, yet made you want to stare at her for some reason. There was something about being in her presence that made Teyla feel… she wasn't even sure what it was, something between awe and wariness. The woman exuded an air of power and wisdom beyond her apparent years, yet there was also an edge of impatience to the tilt of her chin and a heavy judgement in her gaze when she looked at you.

John had turned his attention to the map as he and Colonel Walker peered over it, pointing out several areas that could be possible targets for the Wraith.

"Eyes in the sky, keep tracking. We're going to check out possible locations on the ground," John commanded into his radio and then began to order other teams to different targets. "Okay, people, everyone in the car," John ordered once he had lowered his radio.

Teyla turned to the car door and held it open for the mystery woman and then followed her into the car. Ronon, now patched up by Carson, slid in on the woman's other side. John sat up front alongside Colonel Walker who was driving, much to Rodney's complaints from the back seats where he sat along with Carson.

The car pulled away and they were into the main flow of traffic in moments. John turned in the front seat and looked round at the woman sat between Teyla and Ronon. Teyla looked at her as well, her eyes falling to the woman's legs now revealed without her coat covering them; knives of various sizes lined her outer thighs.

"So, what should we call you?" John asked.

Teyla almost smiled. She found herself thinking of Aiden and how in that first year in Atlantis he and John had frequently enjoyed naming every planet and alien they met. A flash of sorrow replaced her amusement; had Aiden been lost along with so many others? She hoped he was still alive out there somewhere, but she hoped he was not alone. That sense of isolation she feared for him brought forth a flush of regret and self reflected isolation for herself. Kanaan had moved into his own quarters only a couple of days ago and since she had been feeling rather alone and regretful of her choices. She did not doubt her decision on their relationship, but it had left her questioning many of her decisions over the past two years. But, now was not the time to reflect on such things and she forced herself to focus on the woman's reply.

"I have been known by many names; demon, angel, sorcerer," the woman replied unhelpfully.

"That doesn't really help all that much, unless you don't mind us calling you 'target two'?" John replied.

The woman was silent for long moments as the car raced onwards. Teyla could feel Rodney and Carson's tight attention from over her shoulder. Radio chatter was the only sound that broke the silence.

Teyla looked at John, to see him meeting the woman's assessing gaze with no apparent discomfort.

"You may call me Uosa," she finally responded.

"Okay, Uosa," John replied, drawing out the vowels of her name as she had done. "_What_ are you?"

Uosa had turned her attention away to the window beside Ronon, through which the chopper could be seen hovering in the distance. "I am a Wraith hunter," she replied.

"I noticed that, but I meant are you human?" John asked directly.

Uosa let out a breathy laugh and looked back at him. Her hair shifted across her shoulders and a delicate scent of incense lingered around her. "Partly," she responded.

Teyla leant forward to catch the woman's eye. "Are you an Ancestor? An Ancient?" Teyla ignored John's pointed look. This conversation needed to progress faster and it was clear to Teyla that Uosa was not one to openly give up information. If they were to trust each other then tense filled silences would not be the way forward, besides Teyla suspected Uosa would outlast all of them in a silent staring match, even Ronon.

Uosa turned in her seat and looked directly into Teyla's eyes. "Partly," she replied with the first touch of a smile that Teyla had seen.

The atmosphere seemed to change in the car, but Teyla did not look away from the dark eyes studying her. Uosa's mind brushed against hers and Teyla allowed the contact, pushing back herself. Superficially Teyla sensed the woman's mind, knowing that Uosa was doing the same. Teyla felt the strength of the woman's mind again and almost gasped at the power she sensed. This woman had lived a very long time and there was a heavy emotional weight connected with it all. Images were allowed free and Teyla gently studied them.

"You are like me as well, though?" Teyla asked. "You have the Gift."

Uosa's mind danced through her thoughts and it was a strange sensation to allow such a thing, for normally Teyla was fighting away such invasion by a Wraith's mind. Teyla found herself thinking of her people with the Gift that some carried and those thoughts inevitably led to Torren. She slammed her thoughts shut in reaction to that; protecting her son by pure instinct. Uosa withdrew her mind instantly, respecting what Teyla wished, though Teyla suspected the woman could have forced her way further.

"Yes, I have 'The Gift' as you call it," Uosa replied. Teyla noticed John's nervous worried look and she smiled at him to let him know all was well. She turned back to Uosa who appeared more relaxed now and Teyla felt she had gained some trust with their exchange.

"An Ancient with the Wraith gene?" Carson asked with awe from the back seat.

Uosa tilted her head enough for her voice to carry to the back of the car, but she did not turn to the doctor. "I am only part 'Ancient' as you call them." She sat forward then, closing that field of conversation. "When we find this Wraith you are to leave it to me to kill. You will not be able to stop it," Uosa told John with the first real emotion Teyla had heard from her.

"I'm not one for boasting, but we've killed our fair share of Wraith before," he told her. His casual deliverance of the words was rather hampered by the fact that Colonel Walker had taken the car around another corner at quite a speed. Yet, John just managed to stay upright and still appear in control. Teyla realised she had lifted a hand to Uosa's elbow to steady her through the turn, but against all the rules of physics Uosa had not been affected by the swinging vehicle. Yet, Uosa inclined her head towards Teyla in acknowledgement to the well intended assistance and Teyla dropped her hand.

"This Wraith is very old and very strong, you will not have what it takes to stop him," Uosa stated back to John.

"We get that armour off him, he'll go down like any other Wraith," Ronon added. Teyla knew he was shimmering away with aggression towards the Wraith, who had managed to injury Ronon more than any other before.

Uosa turned to him now, her hair sliding over her coat as she turned away from Teyla. The smell of incense and flowers seemed to grow even stronger around Teyla.

"He will not. He is a very powerful Wraith," Uosa replied.

"You've gone up against this particular Wraith before then?" John asked.

"Yes; he is the last."

"The last what? The last Wraith from the Hive?"

Uosa paused then. "No, he did not come from the Hive ship. Was it you who destroyed the Hive ship?" She asked.

"Well, not just me personally," John replied with a casual half shrug.

"Wait, wait," Rodney protested from the back seat. He leant forward; his hands grasping the back of Uosa's and Ronon's seats. "If he didn't come from the hive ship, where did he come from? Where did _you_ come from?"

Uosa was looking out the car windows again and Teyla could feel the woman's mind working in tracking the Wraith. "It does not matter now, it only matters that I have killed all the rest and he is now the last."

Teyla interceded, knowing that Rodney would not let the matter drop. "You have been here on Earth, haven't you?" Teyla asked remembering the flashes of memories Uosa had allowed her to see. "You've been sleeping for many years waiting for the opportunity to kill this last Wraith."

Uosa looked back at her and Teyla saw the weight then in the growing shadows over the woman's face. "Yes, but he is the last and soon my work will be complete."

"There's been Wraith on Earth?" Rodney asked appalled.

"All those vampire myths had to come from somewhere," Carson added. "Doctor Jackson is going to love this."

"Let's get this back on track," John interrupted. "You said this is no ordinary Wraith, why?"

"He was part of his Queen's inner circle. The Queens are able to imbue some of their offspring with greater strength and intelligence. This Wraith is not only well gifted, but he is of an ancient stock. He is strong and clever and very, very angry with both the loss of those I killed and the recent destruction of the Hive ship that woke both him and me."

"We always suspected the Queens had the ability to select the attributes of their young," Carson muttered from the back seat.

"Yes, though I thought you would have been aware of that fact, what with the one you have captured," Uosa said as she looked at John.

John narrowed his eyes at her. "You know about him?"

"Of course," Uosa replied as if it was foolish of them to have believed otherwise.

"Are you planning on killing him as well?" John asked. Teyla frowned at him, for there had been a strong touch of defensiveness in his voice.

"No, he is of no concern of mine," Uosa replied as she turned and looked back out of the window.

John met Teyla's eyes and she saw the questions he wanted to ask; was Usoa to be believed? Could they trust her? Teyla had only her instinct to go on, and on what she had sensed from Uosa's mind, but then that was what John had been asking to know. Teyla nodded very subtly to him. Uosa turned away from the window beside Ronon and looked round at Teyla and then over to John before turning back to the window. For the first time John looked unnerved by Uosa.

"So, you can track him?"

"Yes," Uosa replied. "Yet, I am unsure where he is heading with such determination. Somehow he has been able to block his destination from me, as well as the plan he has once he arrives there." Teyla could hear the heavy frown in her voice. "I need to be closer to him to prise the information from his mind."

"Well, we'll get him before he gets there," John replied with more confidence than was possible.

Uosa turned to him. "Remember; you are to leave him to me."

"You're going to need our help, or else you wouldn't have teamed up with us," John pointed out.

Uosa frowned at him. "He is a formidable enemy."

"We've gone up against those types before, though admittedly not ones wearing armour like his."

"It is stolen 'Ancient' technology, but I have made sure all other traces of it, other than his, have been destroyed."

"Great, _that's_ helpful," Rodney complained from the back. Uosa ignored him, or perhaps didn't even listen to him, though Teyla doubted that Uosa missed anything.

"Well, we need to get him out of it," John pondered.

Uosa sat forward towards him again. "You may help me find him, but the final stroke will have to be mine. He is far more than what you have dealt with before. Leave him to me."

Teyla watched John studying Uosa, saw him working through the pros and cons, as he called them, to allowing Uosa to be the one to kill the Wraith. Ultimately it was a clear decision.

"Okay," John agreed.

"Good," Uosa replied as she sat back and returned her attention to the passing scenery outside.

-------------  
TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter: **6

-------

The car screeched into the half empty lot surrounding the eatery. One team were already there, having secured the scene ahead of them. Above them in the quickly darkening sky the chopper still circled. John jumped out of the car and strode across the space to the young eager man waiting for him, who saluted. John returned the salute as was expected, but it was entirely unnecessary in the circumstances.

"At ease," John ordered the man with the ramrod straight back.

"Yes, Sir," the young man replied, though he didn't relax anymore than letting out a breath, apparently having held it in along with his flat stomach. "We've identified the target on the video cameras."

John looked up at the flat boring building that held wide windows full of curious faces. The main door held the owners, presumably, who were frowning away. John noticed the poorly hidden cameras overlooking the road and the entrance to the building. "They've got cameras here?" He muttered the question to himself.

"Yes, Sir. It appears they have been troubled of late by Youths smashing up the fences and stealing cars."

John tried not to smile that the 'Youths' comment. Right now, he was pretty happy with those Youths for having created the need for the cameras to be installed. "And we've got the target on camera?"

"We've gone over it and caught a brief moment of it moving along the tree line, heading towards the trucks to the left there," he reported as he pointed off to the left where a lone truck sat, but it was clear there was plenty of room for more beside it.

"Do we have coverage of that area?" John asked hopefully.

"No, Sir, but two trucks left soon after the target was spotted, and we have their plate numbers from the camera overlooking the exit."

"Great," John uttered, some luck at last. "Did the trucks both head south?"

"Yes, Sir. We've got a team checking the highway cameras now for the trucks. We should find them any time now."

"Good work," John told him as he turned away before the man tried to salute again. John looked round to see Ronon and Uosa were already walking over to the tree line that had been pointed out. He hurried to catch up, Teyla at his side.

They reached the tree line just as Ronon and Uosa both began walking away, tracking along the line of the trees around the lot. John followed along in their path, squinting down at the vague suggestion he could see of boots through the grass. It was getting dark now and the light from the eatery only travelled so far, but he could just about make out the tracks. Teyla wandered along beside him, her attention directed out at the surrounding trees, and Rodney followed along behind them silently, for a change. The sun would be down soon and though the bright reds and yellows streaked across the sky were pretty enough, night would only make tracking the Wraith all that more difficult. All in all today had been a pretty crappy day, John pondered as he wandered along the edge of the lot.

"Here," Ronon called from up ahead where was crouched down in the grass and pointing to a patch beside him. John and Teyla jogged up to his side and looked down at the vague signs that someone had paused there. "He waited here; watching the trucks," Ronon added pointing up to the trucks just across a short patch of tarmac. "Must have taken a driver."

"Can Wraith drive?" Rodney asked from behind John.

"They can fly space ships, Rodney, I think they can work out how to drive," John replied.

"Or, it has kept the driver alive for now, to drive for him," Teyla suggested.

John nodded. "Well, we've got the plates of the two possible trucks, so once the call comes in we can follow them as discreetly as possible."

"It is not in a truck," Uosa interrupted. John looked up at her. She stood behind Ronon, but her attention was directed out into the trees away from the lot and trucks.

"What?" John asked.

She turned back to him and then pointed down to the tracks in the ground beside Ronon. "This is far too obvious; he would never leave such clear tracks, unless he was planning to mislead humans." John ignored the subtle insult in that. "He wants you to follow your human instincts, which make you believe that he will think like you. He is not like you. He knows that you are following him now and that we know he is travelling towards something; so he will not lead us there." She turned and looked out into the trees again. "He is far more dangerous now."

"Where is he then?" Rodney asked as Ronon stood up and began tracking further down the edge of the lot.

Uosa took a loud breath through the dusk light. "He is in that direction," she replied as she pointed off through the trees.

"Why would he try to mislead us when he knows you can track him so easily?" John asked.

Uosa turned back to him, her dark eyes even deeper in the darkening light. "He does not know that we are working together, so he is leading you away and is drawing me into another battle, hoping to slow me and give him time to feed."

John turned to Rodney who had his newly supplied tablet in his hand. "Where are we on the map?" John asked him.

Rodney tapped away on it for a few seconds to bring up an overview of the area. "We're here," he said as he pointed to the small building almost surrounded by trees at the edge of the city. "That direction," he nodded up in the direction Uosa had indicated, "is this way."

John stood closer to Rodney scanning the display; a short distance away on the map, in the direction Uosa had pointed, was a massive mall complex. "Crap," John muttered. He looked round to Uosa and Teyla. "Is it heading for the mall?" He asked them indicating the map.

Uosa closed her eyes for a moment before leaning forward to look at the map and then looked off over her shoulder again. "Yes; a very large tall building. There are few vehicles left around it, but there are people inside; an excellent place for it to go," she summarised.

John swore quietly again as he lifted his radio. "I need team two, eyes in the sky and team three to head to the main mall complex to the north west of our current position. Target is suspected to be heading in that direction." He lowered the radio and checked his watch. "It'll be closed or closing, so at least there won't be as many people around. We can corner off the area and surround it." He looked up at Uosa again. "You sure about this?"

Uosa nodded and John looked down at Teyla beside her who was also nodding, her eyes worried. Ronon came jogging back up the side of the lot.

"I found its tracks heading back into the trees in the far corner," he reported, pointing towards the back of the lot, which ran off in the direction Uosa had indicated.

"Clever," John muttered as he turned and they hurried back to the waiting car. "We need to trap it in the Mall, at least then we can control its movements."

"You will never be able to control this creature," Uosa replied from behind him and John bit back the retort he wanted to throw back at her.

"Well, once we've got it locked down in the mall then you can go in and do your thing and we can all be happy."

The black car seemed even darker as he approached it, and behind it the dying colours of the day were growing duller; they were running out of time. He wrenched open the front car door and climbed in beside Walker. They tore out of the eatery's lot and away down onto the main road, turning off to circle back into the city towards the mall complex. After a few turns, at Walker's breakneck speeds, the mall came into view. Bright blue lights decorated one side of the building through the new night. The radio buzzed with chatter; the teams were in place and the chopper was hovering over the building as they drove into the main east lot of the mall.

"We've got civilians running out of the west exit," someone shouted over the radio. "Repeat we have possible sighting of target in the mall."

"Get everyone you can out, but do not engage with the target," John ordered into the radio. He pointed to the main east entrance for Walker and they pulled up beside team two's car. John leapt out and a Captain approached.

"Colonel, we got this end sealed tight. It appears only the mall staff were still inside and we have one report of a possible feeding. There are four of their staff currently unaccounted for so far, but with it being the end of the day numbers are unclear."

"Let's hope those four are in their cars heading back home," John muttered as he checked his weapons.

"Yes, Sir. We have back up cordoning off the surrounding roads in case it tries to flee. The other two main exits, north and south, are locked up tightly with metal gates over the doors on the inside," the helpful Captain added.

John tapped his ear piece. "I want people on each exit, but they are to keep back and not engage unless forced to," he ordered, "everyone hear that?" Reports came back, including a satisfactory report that the west end was now secure.

They reached the wide glass doors that comprised the east entrance to the mall and John peered into the lobby inside which led to the main mall beyond. Interior evening lights were on inside and it looked empty. Above them the chopper was circling, keeping a clear watch on everyone and making sure no stray heat signatures were seen leaving the building.

John was aware of Teyla talking to Uosa behind him. "Why would it allow itself to be trapped like this?" She asked quietly, as if the Wraith would be able to hear them from inside the building; but then, maybe it could.

"He is trapping us," Uosa replied. "He hopes to force me into a confrontation on his terms and since you failed to follow his misdirection, he will take the opportunity to kill you all as well." The words were delivered as if she was reporting the weather and it was only the context really that made her sound cold, yet John couldn't help adding a few more negative marks on her card in his mind. He didn't like going into a situation like this with a member of the team that he didn't really know. He trusted that she was going to kill the Wraith, but it was also clear to John that she cared only about that objective and he doubted she would shed a single tear if half his people were killed.

"Well, we've only a limited number of options. There's no way we can gas it in a building this large, unless we managed to herd it down one end and then gas it. That is if gas will take it down. We can call in for some stunners maybe," John looked over at Ronon, who looked suddenly hopeful, since he had been missing his own gun.

"The armour protects its wearer from energy weapons," Uosa reported, throwing more cold water on their options. Ronon frowned and looked back into the mall.

"If we get the armour off it…" Rodney began to suggest.

Usoa turned to him, "You will not engage it. I will end this, as we agreed."

John had had enough of the waiting around and her attitude. "You're going to need our help here. Together we can force it into a corner inside, or flush it up onto the roof. Either way you are going to need us to help you get to it."

Uosa stared at him with a long heavy pause. "You will risk your people with this," she uttered quieter than before.

"We all know what we signed up for."

Her gaze changed slightly and she nodded at him, and he felt like he had won some points with her. That only made him feel more annoyed with her, but he found he had gained a little more trust in her as well. He turned back towards the doors, away from the last rays of bright red light filling the sky.

------

Teyla followed John and Ronon through the opened glass doors, Colonel Walker and half of team two with them. She looked over her shoulder to make sure the doors were being locked behind them and caught sight of Rodney and Carson staring back through the far lobby doors. She gave them an encouraging smile and turned back to the wide open space they had entered.

She had been in a mall only once or twice, not including the version she had experienced through John's mind all those years ago. The massive building was open in its centre; the upper two levels clear above them from the ground floor. Along the sides gates covered the entrances to shop doors and in some case over some of the large windows as well. The building was entirely decorated in white, though it looked faded and dim in the partial lighting. Large green plants were dotted around adding splashes of colour to the otherwise wide empty space. Uosa, John and Ronon led the way, Uosa striding down the centre of the open ground floor, whilst John and Ronon kept close to the sides. Everyone moved silently, their weapons ready and their eyes focused.

It was unnaturally quiet in the building, but then it was empty. Teyla moved along steadily taking up the right back end of the group, keeping an eye on their six and she watched the levels above them as well just in case. From the high ceiling, above the levels above, there hung long brightly coloured panels. Several of them were swaying in an unseen breeze. She narrowed her vision on the areas around those panels, but saw nothing.

They reached an intersection in the mall, where the mall split into two avenues; one which continued ahead and one which ran to the left. Ronon was peering down the left avenue cautiously. There was nothing obvious in that direction save more empty space, interjected with coffee stands and staircases. At the intersection there was a wide sweeping staircase that encircled a silent water feature. More plants decorated the area, set between solid benches overlooking the raised pool of water. John indicated some orders with hand signals, and he moved carefully around the water feature continuing down the main line of the mall, whilst Ronon led half of the group down the left avenue. Teyla watched them sweeping out in lines down the avenue as silently as the still water she was approaching.

Uosa was walking forward with John's group, striding forward on silent soles. John indicated the stairs and then to himself. Colonel Walked nodded and moved on with another and Uosa. John headed towards the staircase, Captain Scott just behind him and Teyla moved to back them up. As John made his way cautiously up the staircase, she moved silently through the space around the water feature. Metallic circles sparkled at her from the bottom of the pool as she passed. A growing feeling of unease was growing within her. The mall was too large for them to be able to block any of it off and for all they knew the Wraith was on the highest level watching their every move, ready to pick them off one at a time. In fact that was probably its intent.

Teyla reached the base of the staircase and looked up it to see John and Captain Scott had safely reached the next level and were checking down the walkway of that level. Teyla glanced down towards Uosa's back and saw the woman was indicating that they all keep moving forward. Reassured by the woman's sense, Teyla made her way up the staircase to join John and Captain Scott.

John shifted closer to her, where they were gathered at the top of the staircase. "We should head up a level," he whispered to her. His breath, sweet with coffee, rushing over her cheek and she nodded. He led the way, moving silently up to the top level and Teyla waited till Captain Scott had reached him and then she followed them.

They proceeded down the top walkway. The lower levels were clear below through the waist high railings that lined the walkways. From here they could look down on the middle level and see Uosa at the centre of the Ground floor.

All the shops were shut up and there was no sign that any of them had been entered forcefully. Teyla kept her eyes sweeping along the walkway ahead, the one below and on their six. They passed under one of the swinging panels. She looked up at the swaying panel of red and felt a strange chill go through her, but pushed it aside and carried on. She opened her senses further; the Wraith's presence sudden and cold in her middle. Testing it against it gently she tried to originate herself; it was ahead of them, but she had no way to know on which level it was located.

On the ground level another intersection appeared, hopefully connecting to the one Ronon's group had been following. A quick quiet report over her ear piece told her that Ronon could see the intersection and that there had been no sighting. She looked over the railing down towards the ground floor to see Uosa looking to her left and sure enough Ronon's short dark hair appeared; his team had rejoined theirs.

Teyla moved on keeping up with John, who was also peering down to the ground level below as their strange unknown alien team mate was walking cautiously forward. Uosa stopped suddenly and held up her hand and Teyla froze a foot behind John, the Captain ahead of them, sweeping his gaze over the walkway across from them.

Uosa indicated forward and moved on again. They moved on as well, but the level Teyla's group were on was opening up to a complete level, blocking the levels below. Tall plants and rows of tables and chairs almost entirely covered the area, the outer edges of the space lined with food counters. John reported quietly over the radio that they would be losing visual contact with the lower levels as they headed quickly and quietly into the open crowded space.

Teyla moved through the pale plastic chairs, all arranged around low plastic tables. Small pots sat on each table, with a plastic colourful flower in the centre. The counters to both sides of the space were all closed up and dark. They finally passed out through the sea of chairs and tables to once again find the walkways lining the sides of the mall and the central area open.

As they stepped onto the walkway and looked down they heard the first scream.

"Target is..." A voice reported before being cut off and Teyla heard crashing and gunfire from the lowest level.

"Report!" John ordered into his radio as they both looked over the railing to the lower floor. Someone flew past, literally thrown across the space, and disappeared under the first floor walkway. There was a flash of movement and Uosa came into view, a table throwing her across the space to land in a heap. She was up again, but there was further gunfire and screaming below.

John rushed past Teyla heading back into the eating area, where the closest staircase was located. Teyla paused only a moment before following him and she saw the flash of the Wraith's coat below and then an almighty crash of breaking glass. She turned and followed Captain Scott, who was running after John down the staircase. Teyla reached the stairs and saw John on the first level below firing down at the Wraith below on the ground level. Teyla ran down to join him and looked over the first level railing to see the Wraith had Ronon pinned to a wall by his neck. Uosa was climbing out of a broken shop window, glass falling from her shoulders.

John's bullets hit the back of the Wraith, but its armour was back in place and it barely reacted. Uosa launched herself against the Wraith's back and pulled him away from Ronon, who had managed to slice at one of the Wraith's cheeks. The Wraith wrestled with Uosa, kicking her side and trying to slam his elbow into the side of her throat. She managed to twist enough to only be partly injured, but she was shuddering with the hits. Teyla watched as she freed one hand and slammed it down on the Wraith's forehead and it screamed in pain. Teyla saw the flesh of its forehead steaming and crinkling as if it was being burnt. It changed its grip on Uosa and spun throwing her away from it. Her grip on his forehead had not been secure enough to hold onto him and she was thrown away, once again flying through the air and she disappeared through what had been a boarded up shop front with an almighty crash. They began firing down at the Wraith again.

Bullets peppered his shoulders and back and it howled in rage as blood splattered over the back of its neck. It turned and ran across the lower floor until it was hidden from them below the staircase. There was more gunfire from below them as they rushed to the other side of the stairs to see the Wraith had a soldier in its clutches and was draining him, the man's screams high-pitched. Ronon slammed into the Wraith's back, knocking the victim free and they tumbled to the floor. Teyla fired at the Wraith, but its back was to her and with its head low the bullets only impacted its armour.

"Aim for the joins," John ordered and the three of them refocused their fire down on the Wraith. It rolled though, reaching for Ronon and they had to cease their fire as they watched the two big males wrestle. Unfortunately Ronon had to focus on keeping the big creature's palms away from him and couldn't protect himself that much from its kicks. Colonel Walker appeared over them and threw himself on the Wraith's back and thrust a knife at the Wraith's shoulder joint. The Wraith let one hand go from Ronon to bat the Colonel away, but that only allowed Ronon space to reach his hand into the Wraith's coat and pull at the panel of armour Walker was still trying to cut free. The Wraith roared loudly and climbed to his feet off Ronon to violently shove at Colonel Walker, throwing him away and then the Wraith was off and running down the mall back the way they had already cleared.

Teyla ran to the first level walkway and began to run along it, following the Wraith running below. John was behind her and shouting into his radio for people to report in and someone to check on Uosa. Teyla heard something about a massive hole through two shop walls, at the far end of which Uosa was stirring. Teyla directed her focus down on Wraith below and she felt flashes of its thoughts; it was planning to run. It looked up towards her and she felt, more than heard, its snarl and it ran faster. It reached the water feature and ran off down the other turn that Ronon's group had cleared earlier. Teyla reached the wide staircase and ran down it.

"Teyla, wait up," John shouted from behind and she paused on the top of the stairs, sighting down her weapon as she waiting for John and the Captain to reach her. Once they did, panting though they were, she moved down the stairs swiftly. There was a smash of glass ahead.

"It's at the north exit, Sir," someone reported loudly over the radio. "It's trying to break through the metal gate over the doors.

Teyla powered down the avenue of shops, turning the bend to see the Wraith in the distance tearing at the metal mess gate that covered the north exit's glass doors. Teyla stopped, John and the Captain beside her, and she fired at it, aiming for the possible opening around its shoulder that Colonel Walker and Ronon had worked to open. The Wraith flinched, which told her that perhaps the armour was compromised. It turned though, its armoured chest towards them, before it howled and tore at the metal gate again; it wanted out. They advanced on it carefully, firing as they did; their aim improving as the distance reduced. It turned, covering its head, and ran across the avenue away from the exit and leaped through the glass front of a shop.

They raced forward and peered in through the broken glass. The shop beyond was filled with tables displaying small bottles and the scent of various perfumes filled the air.

"It's inside the shop opposite the north entrance," John reported over the radio as he peered into the shop along with her. The shop was lit enough to show that the Wraith was not waiting for them just inside, so they carefully climbed in through the broken glass front. They spread out across the small space, moving swiftly through the tables of bottles. A flash of movement out the corner of Teyla's eye had her swinging round.

"It's heading up to the next level of the shop," Captain Scott reported from his side of the room as he ran to the stairs, John just behind him. Teyla followed them, swinging through the tables and up the stairs.

The Wraith attacked as they reached the next floor. Teyla came up the steps and turned towards the sound of the Captain's cries and there was a flash of movement as the Wraith turned towards her. Its mind was so violent and sudden in its attack that it was like a battering ram against her and she fell backwards, falling against a table covered with folded clothing. The clothing tumbled to the floor around her feet as she steadied herself, her head ringing and unsteady. She drew herself together as she heard John firing behind her and she turned to see the Wraith pick up a stand of clothing and throw it at John, who darted to the side, still firing, as the metal and clothing fell down towards him.

Teyla's mind re-focused and she pushed away at the retreating wave of the Wraith's aggression. She felt it retreat from her and in it she sensed its passion to run, its need to escape. She wondered if Uosa had been right that the Wraith wanted to kill them all first, for it seemed somehow fearful now. She pressed into its mind, distracted in its focus as it threw the stand at John. Flashes of images of its need, of its desperation filtered into her mind around its plan of escape. She saw the tall window across the room behind her from the Wraith's eyes; it would jump through there. The fall would damage it, but not enough to stop it and it would have soldiers near enough for it to drain. It was so desperate she realised; it had to complete its plan. Then, as if she had tripped over something unseen she felt the direction of its plan and she thrust her mind at it.

Its plan, clear and dangerous, was abruptly revealed to her and she gasped at the revelation.

The Wraith had been about to lift the Captain again, but dropped him and turned towards her, its eyes wide with panic. Its mind slammed shut again and she pulled back, happy to leave its dark thoughts. Its stunned face shifted into violent anger and it began to move towards her. She reached down for her P90, against her and lifted it, but the Wraith had dipped down and she saw something long and metallic shine abruptly in its hand.

The impact into her was so sudden and shocking that she couldn't process what was happening. Her breath left her body and then the floor hit her back, clothing around her. She heard feet pounding, gunfire and then as she tilled her head back she saw the upside down scene play out. The Wraith was running away, through the shop towards the tall window ahead of it and she watched in strange slow motion as it threw itself towards the window. She watched the glass fracture around it and then part to reveal the darkness of the night outside. The Wraith disappeared down and out of her view, its white hair trailing behind it as it fell away.

She could hear shouting, but it was far off and her vision was strangely cloudy. She looked away from the window to the clothes piled around her and she heard someone scream her name. Pain, unlike anything she had ever felt before, tore at her abruptly and she heard her name screamed again. She looked down herself to see a pole of shiny metal protruding from her middle and she coughed; blood thick and metallic suddenly filling her mouth.

John appeared above her, his eyes wide with a panic she had never seen in him before. She opened her mouth to reassure him, but she coughed violently as she tried to draw in a breath.

The air tasted of death and she knew it was her own.

-----  
TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter: **7

-------

John threw aside all the restrictions over him, shrugging away the broken mess of the clothing railing, as he struggled up to his feet, his eyes locked onto the sight across the dark space of the shop. Some part of him was processing what he was hearing over his ear piece; the sounds and some screams as the Wraith made its way away from the mall. But, another part of him was fast disintegrating into blind panic.

She was laid out amidst a scattered pile of pale clothing, which was all rapidly soaking up her blood. He dropped down onto his knees beside her, reaching for her as he screamed into his radio for assistance, but he already knew it wouldn't come in time.

She looked up at him, gasping for breath, blood dribbling from her lips. He reached for her, lifting her head and shoulders to help her breathe. He knew it would hurt her and indeed she coughed louder, but this time she was able to catch a clear breath and her eyes focused on him through her pain filled haze.

"Teyla, hang on; help's on its way," he tried to reassure her, but he had already turned to the shiny metal pole protruding from her middle, its bright surface splattered with her blood. The throw had been so fast and so accurate that the pole had penetrated straight through the zipper of her vest and had buried the pole deeply through her. Dark black blood was pooling up from the wound in her middle, telling him that there really was no time. That didn't stop him thrusting his hand down around the pole, trying vainly to stem the flood of her blood out of her body.

"John…" she gasped and he looked to her eyes again, trying to force back the panic and tears that he wanted to shed. Her eyes were wide and panicked and that helped him to focus. She was coughing again and he lifted her further up, ramming his knee under her shoulders and his arm around her, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel the other end of the pole through her back brush against his thigh.

"John…" she gasped once her mouth was clear again. "Wraith…"

"He's gone, we'll get him…" John tried to reassure her as he pressed his hand tighter to her middle around the pole, her blood warm over his hand. Tears were threatening to fill his eyes and the fear was riding up higher. He looked away to the staircase down to the lower level; where was backup? Of course he knew that only seconds had passed since he sent out the call, and that they were all fighting the Wraith or injured themselves. He felt completely useless; her life was leaving her so fast he could feel her growing heavier against him.

"Wraith…" she said again and she grasped the front of his jacket, drawing his full attention back to her eyes. He couldn't hold back the tears now, couldn't hide them from himself or her, but all he saw in her face was panic. "Plan…" she panted.

"Don't worry about that now," John told her, but she shook her head, the movement violent in the pain it caused her. She pulled on the front of his jacket, pulling him down to her with a strength that was shocking considering the circumstances.

"It…its…pl…an," she told him through her gasps. "I…saw…" She ran out of energy then, but John had understood.

"The Wraith's plan, you saw it," he confirmed for her, but he knew she wouldn't be able to tell him; it was too late for her to be able to talk enough. "It's alright we'll get him," John tried to reassure her. "You need to rest," he told her, but his voice broke as he did and more tears were in his eyes. "Just relax, Teyla, help's on its way. Carson'll patch you up; good as new," he lied to her.

She tightened her hold on his jacket again, her eyes staring so directly into his that it was brutal in its intensity. "Torren…" she whispered as tears began to fill her eyes, rolling down her face.

"You'll see him soon," John told her as he pressed down harder on her front, but her body was growing heavier and her hold on his jacket dropped away. Her breathing was more laboured and her face was so pale it was terrifying. His eyes clouded up and he had to lift his hand from her wound to wipe his eyes clear. He felt the warmth of her blood smeared over his face as he did, but he didn't care. He looked back over his shoulder towards the stairs. She needed help, she couldn't die like this. She couldn't die now.

"Please…John," she managed to whisper through her tears.

He looked back down into her dark eyes and could no longer deny the plain cruelty of what was happening; she was really going to die in his arms. He had been beside many others in the past as they had died, bearing witness to their passing, but he had never really had to hold someone he loved this much as they went. It was so stomach wrenchingly painful that he wanted to vomit, but he would not fail her now. He had failed to watch her back already tonight and he wouldn't fail her again. He knew what she needed and what needed to be promised, though he hated to do it as if to deny the words would mean that she wouldn't die here. He pulled out his ear piece, the cries and shouts over it cut away, and it was just them in the big empty dark shop.

"You know we'll look after Torren," he promised her. "You know I will," his voice broke again and he let the new tears run down his cheeks.

She nodded as she sagged a little further in his arms. He pulled her tighter to him, clutching her against him as much as he could. "You've got to hold on, Teyla. Please," he whispered to her. He leant down over her and pressed his forehead to hers. "Please," he begged her. Her forehead was cool, as were her fingers that briefly touched his cheek. "Please."

She was growing weaker and colder in his arms, her breaths taking longer and her whole body struggled with each one. He wanted to be able to take the pain away for her, to give her that little, but he couldn't.

A shadow in the dark room suddenly darkened the space around them and John looked up to see Uosa standing over them, her face set in a deep frown. Hope, shockingly bright and brittle, flared through John as he stared up at the woman.

"Please help her," he begged.

-------

Uosa crouched down beside the woman, Teyla, as her life was fading so fast Uosa could feel it as a cooling rush. Sheppard's desperation and pain was a further burst of cold that seemed to Uosa to fill all the air around them that she almost expected to see frost coating everything in the wide dark space.

The faint light in the room glinted off the shining coating of the metal rod through Teyla and Uosa couldn't hide the regret from her expression.

"Please," Sheppard begged again, for he had seen Uosa's doubt and sorrow. Teyla was a strong and powerful woman; for her to end now was tragic. Uosa looked up at the strong man reduced to a pale desperate state opposite her.

"I can help with her pain," Uosa told him as she reached down and laid her hand on Teyla's closest arm and poured enough energy into her that the pain should reduce, but her departure not be hastened. Teyla's breathing softened and her body relaxed a little more in the man's arms, but her colour only paled further. Uosa looked down to the woman's eyes and saw the acceptance as well as the regret. Teyla's mind was weak, but it was reaching towards her.

"Wraith…" Teyla managed to utter with effort.

"She knows the Wraith's plan," Sheppard said with growing aggression. "Is that enough motivation for you?" He spat at her.

Uosa focused down on Teyla, reaching forward with her mind into the weakening thickness of the human female's thoughts. "Show me, Teyla."

But, Teyla's mind was clouded with pain and was preoccupied with thoughts of her young and those she most cared for in her life. Regrets, memories and desires were a muddle inside her mind, as was normal for a dying mind as it struggled to accept and process that its end was at hand. Uosa would not be able to see the Wraith's plan through all that, unless maybe Teyla could focus on it, but that would be unlikely in her state.

"Save her, then she can tell you," Sheppard tried to bargain.

Uosa looked over at Sheppard. He would not understand in his current state; emotional and grief stricken as he was.

"To all things there is an end," she told him as gently as she could.

His pain grew even more intense in the space around him, as his eyes tightened and more tears ran from his eyes. He had hugged Teyla closer to him and there was both blame and painful understanding in his eyes. He understood death; for he was a warrior.

Uosa had walked this planet for more years than any other of her mother's or her father's people and she had been witness to the full rein of the human experience. She had seen wars so vast that the ground shook with the violence and was saturated with the blood. She had seen fields of dead and dying, seen buildings packed with them; each of them striving to survive.

She had leant healing skills from her father, though it was her own experience of healing herself that had honed that skill. She could restart someone's heart, heal damage and fight off most infections, but there was a great difference between that and sealing a hole punctured entirely through a person's middle. She had seen healings like that before, but it had been undertaken by more than one of her father's people and only those most skilled had been successful.

And there was more that she had learnt on healing; that everything had its time. Though she had resisted the tight constraints that her father's people, her people, had put on intervention, she had grown to understand their perspective. She had been told by a human once that such thoughts were an excuse to remain unfeeling, but she saw the universe in a way that humans could not; she felt the threads of people's lives and that included their beginnings and endings. Who was she to interfere in the end of one's thread? One's destiny?

Teyla's thread was reaching its end.

"Please," Sheppard asked her again, but this time there was more strength and less emotional panic in his tone. There was more here than losing a colleague; this man was significantly invested in Teyla. As Uosa shifted her gaze to what was unseen by most, she could see, as well as feel, the strength he was giving Teyla. Teyla's hands were constricted around his jacket and there was something in the air that spoke of more than a simple tragic moment of human life. Uosa studied Sheppard, seeing the deeper strength of him that was born of their kinship. She saw great potential in him to harness what was necessary for ascension, not that she was one for that kind of thing. She wondered if he knew his potential, knew of the strength of who he was. He was from a strong line and one she suspected had perhaps been carefully sculpted by those carefully stepping around restrictions placed upon them. Was it a coincidence that Uosa had run into these humans; a male with such genetic strength and a woman who was similar to Uosa in her gifts? The feeling of convergence Uosa had felt before was once again a thick sensation around her.

She looked down at Teyla and felt for the thread of the woman's life that was delicate and fragile nearing its end. Yet, as Uosa gazed into her, there was more; a brightness of images that spoke of future travels to stars unknown to Uosa, but of a purpose so like her own. Uosa gasped with realisation.

"I will need your help," she instructed Sheppard as she knelt down closer to Teyla. "Place her down." Sheppard for his part did not question her once as he gently laid Teyla down, whose breathing was slow and even more laboured now. He was tucking some of the clothing under her shoulders to help keep her lungs clear, but he kept one hand under her neck, holding her head up for her.

Uosa reached forward and grasped the metal rod that protruded from Teyla and then looked up at Sheppard. "I will have to gradually pull out the rod, hopefully healing her up as it goes. This may not work," she warned Sheppard and then down to Teyla. "It will hurt, but I will try to make it as less as possible." Teyla nodded vaguely, though her face was ashen and the blood pool around them was significant.

"Do it!" Sheppard commanded her.

Uosa was never one to be ordered around, but she took it now and focused. She moved into the deep place inside her where she felt her connection to life, to her own life force, wisdom and power. Everything became gentler and brighter around her and she drifted herself into that place. She reached out into the ether of what was available and drew it all into her and through into Teyla. On the very edges of that pouring light she was abruptly aware of her father's people watching. They never watched her and their attention now almost threw her off her focus, but she re-focused herself and pulled up on the rod.

Teyla's cry was loud and sharp, but Uosa focused on the area of torn flesh of the woman's back that was now freed from the metal and she directed all her attention there to help it mend. Teyla's body responded, healing up the wound in her back and finally halting most of the blood lost. Uosa pulled up a little more on the rod and willed more flesh to mend. It was draining in her focus and the complexity of what Teyla's body needed to repair itself, and Teyla was so weakened already.

Uosa realised she was panting with effort as she pulled up on the rod a little more. There was so much to be repaired; bone, organs, blood vessels to seal and nerves to re-grow. She knew there was so much, but only Teyla's body knew its structure and Uosa poured into it what it needed. Its genetic structure was aglow as it repaired itself, but was it too late and could Uosa do enough in time? Uosa pulled up some more on the rod, aware that sweat was dripping from her face and she realised couldn't do this all herself.

She opened her eyes and looked at Sheppard watching her with wide terrified and hopeful eyes. "You must help me," Uosa managed to gasp at him.

"How?" He asked leaning closer, his hope and sudden feeling of purpose clear through Uosa's open senses.

"I need you to help me, help her focus, take her pain away," Uosa told him.

She felt his energy drop. "How do I do that?" He asked, almost angry.

"You know, you have that ability; all do. Help her," She told him.

"I don't know how," he protested gesturing over Teyla's body to the rod.

Uosa grew abruptly angry with him then. "You want to save her then you need to help me. Do it!" She commanded as he had done and she shut her eyes.

She could feel his doubts and frustration, but as she pulled up on the rod a little more and Teyla cried out, his attention returned to Teyla. He began talking to Teyla; telling her to hold on, to be strong. But, the healing was taking too long and Teyla's body was so weak. The end of the thread was wavering in the air and Uosa heard Teyla gasp a rattling breath.

"No!" Sheppard all but shouted.

Uosa opened her eyes and pulled the rod completely out of Teyla's body and threw it away. She clamped her hand over Teyla's middle. "Help me!" She cried out; whether it was to Sheppard, the others or to whatever force might help her, she wasn't sure. She could feel Teyla's spirit now loose from its physical hold, hovering in the ether.

"Focus!" Uosa commanded Sheppard and she felt him finally seem to find what was needed.

Uosa poured all she could into the wound and felt even more than she had thought possible fill her, flooding through to Teyla; she had been right. Beside her Sheppard's energies were a glowing vibrancy that told her that he had found what he had inside, whether he knew it or not. Teyla's spirit reconnected and over Sheppard's chanting words, of which she heard none, Uosa felt Teyla return to life.

The woman gasped her new breath, just as Uosa felt the wound seal under her palm. Under her hand Uosa felt Teyla's body once again restarting all its functions and blood being rapidly formed to replace what had been lost, but Uosa also felt something new. A distant chime of vibration inside Teyla that echoed the same that existed inside Uosa, and she knew that she had been right about this woman and what it would mean for the future.

The healing abruptly complete Uosa sat back, disconnecting herself from Teyla and pulling in energy to heal her own exhausted body. She opened her eyes and looked down at Teyla who, though still pale, was alive and well. Sheppard was leaning over her, brushing hair from her pale face and she was smiling faintly. Teyla turned her head and Uosa met her gaze before the woman abruptly passed out into a deep sleep. Sheppard looked up worried.

"She will need to rest," Uosa reassured him, "but she will be fine now."

"Thank you," he told her and his blatant gratitude was as raw as his earlier desperation and pain had been. "Thank you," he repeated as he looked back down at the sleeping Teyla. Uosa nodded though he wasn't looking at her.

Voices and footsteps could be heard on the floor below now, moving closer and as they began to ascend the stairs Uosa watched Sheppard sit up straighter, his emotions closing and tightening. She watched him lock all those turbulent emotions inside as much as he could, as he reached down and slid his arms under Teyla. As a few people rushed up the stairs and into the room, the lights set on their weapons swept over the dark room, dancing and then focusing on Sheppard as he stood up with Teyla in his arms.

-------

The young man stared up at Carson as he panted through his pain and fear. Carson tightened the bandage around the man's arm, still shocked after these years at what a Wraith could do. The young man's flesh was shrunken and wrinkled, his face hollowed and grey with an age he hadn't lived. Carson spoke calmly to him, but it was difficult. The man knew what had happened to him and not only had to deal with the trauma of what he had experienced, but with the fact that he would probably die in a few years from apparent extreme old age. His life had been stolen from him and Carson hated it so much that he could feel bile rising up in his throat. The bandage secure, Carson gave one more reassurance and nodded to the medics to take him away to be properly patched up.

Carson moved on to the next man, laid out on the tarmac of the car park for triaging. This one had been saved the longer withering death of the Wraith's feeding, but it had not saved his life. Carson moved on to the next. The rapid beats of the helicopter was oddly reassuring for him, where it was hovering around in the distance.

He and Rodney had been stationed at the east exit, listening in tense nervous anxiety to the fight going on inside the mall. Then the smashing sound had echoed around the car park to be swiftly followed by the shouts, screams and orders of the new fight in progress. He and Rodney had followed along behind the team that had been running towards the fight, the car racing ahead of them. By the time Carson had gotten there it had been over. The bright beam of the helicopter had passed over the messy scene of bodies and broken glass. The Wraith had been running away pursued by Ronon and a few others into the distance, the helicopter's beam sweeping across the tarmac to follow them. Carson had barely heard the reports as they came in from that point for he was too busy doing his job.

Soldiers had been scattered around amongst the glass fragments, half of them in serious condition, but it had been the savage cry over the radio of Colonel Sheppard asking for assistance upstairs that had haunted Carson as he set about helping those he could. He kept his own fear and panic in the back of his mind as he worked; they would not help his patients. Yet, he couldn't help notice that Colonel Sheppard had not responded on the radio again after his first desperate call for assistance. Carson knew the tone the Colonel had used; he had heard it too many times over the last day. He could hardly believe this had only been going on for one day and so much damage had been wrought by just one Wraith!

The Captain lying on the ground under Carson's care would make it, but she would need some surgery for the glass cut wound across her arm. Carson tightened the field bandage around her arm, elevating the limb and he instructed the medic beside him what to do. Three ambulances were tearing into the car park across the wide open space and Carson stood up to watch the turning bright lights. Several dark cars were following them; back up. Too late.

Carson met the ambulances as they stopped and their technicians climbed out. These were military medics he realised and he relaxed a little as he began briefing them on the situation. As he finished he saw movement at the doorway to the mall and watched the internal metal gate lift up from the north exit doors revealing the mall inside. He could see broken glass inside and then Rodney stepped out. At some point Rodney had run back to the east exit to get inside the mall to help; an action rather unusual for him, but then he had also heard Sheppard's call. Carson now saw something in Rodney's expression that he rarely saw; confusion mixed with amazement. Rodney exited the lobby and Colonel Sheppard came into view behind him. Carson rushed forward towards them.

The Colonel's face was pale and streaked with blood, as were his hands and arms in which he carried an unconscious Teyla against him. Fear was a cold pain in Carson's chest as he moved forward, his eyes already scanning Teyla's form for life signs. Her face was pale, and equally as smeared with blood as the Colonel's, but Carson could tell that she had life in her. He looked up to Sheppard's face and saw a grim controlled expression.

"Teyla!" Carson found himself calling to her as he reached them, but Sheppard didn't stop, he just kept on walking forward towards the vehicles.

"She'll be alright," he told Carson with a grim controlled voice to match his expression.

Carson looked down at her to see a bare patch of her blood stained skin clear through the front of her vest. Blood had clearly saturated into her clothes as it had Sheppard's uniform, but Carson could see no sign of a wound. He put a possible theory together and stepped back away from the Colonel's determined path, and turned to meet Rodney's eyes and then to Uosa's behind him. She looked paler than normal, but she was walking tall and uninjured.

"Did you..?" Carson began to ask as he indicated towards Teyla.

Uosa paused by his side and inclined her head. "She will need a lot of rest, but she will recover."

Carson nodded. "You look like you could do with some rest as well," he noted as he studied her with a doctor's eye.

"I need a short time to rest and perhaps some food," she replied as he gently touched her closest arm. He was a little surprised when she responded to his gentle guidance and followed the Colonel towards the dark cars parked behind the flashing lights of the ambulances.

---------

Tree branches whipped against Ronon's face, one in particular hit him right on his swollen and painful nose, but he ignored it all. He jumped over a wide patch of nettles and kept on; the Wraith's back still vaguely in sight in the distant shadows of the trees.

The 'Chopper' was circling above, its bright beam of light breaking through the canopy overhead as much as it could. Ronon knew it was tracking the Wraith, but the Wraith was fast and using every means at its disposable to lose them all.

Ronon broke through a thick group of trees and saw the darker shape flying out at his face. He ducked just in time and punched out at the Wraith, but the creature's armour was a sharp harsh pain against Ronon's fist. The Wraith wrapped its arms around Ronon's shoulders, seeking to throw him, but Ronon grabbed hold in return, tearing at the Wraith as best as he could from his position. A knee struck Ronon's middle and he couldn't help himself from doubling up in response, so he shoved at the creature, pushing for some space and the Wraith stumbled back. Ronon stepped back again and lifted his weapon up towards the Wraith's head, but it ducked down behind fallen trees. Ronon jumped up onto the closest fallen tree and fired several rounds at the Wraith, only for the bullets to pound into something the Wraith had pulled up from the ground.

The tree stump, its roots scattering mud and debris, flew through the air towards Ronon. He tried to move in time, but the Wraith was too quick and the stump had been thrown with too much force. The stump hit him full force and knocked him from the tree. The weight of the stump pushed him even further back to the ground, but fortunately it only partly pinned him down. Grunting in anger, and with more than a little pain, Ronon struggled to get himself out from under the stump, but one leg felt wrong. He ignored the new pain and sat up enough as he could to look over the stump and sight down his weapon, only to see that the Wraith was not rushing at him, but had disappeared. Behind Ronon soldiers were bursting through the undergrowth, gasping and panting with the exhaustion of having to keep up with Ronon and the Wraith.

"Where is it?" One guy shouted into his radio as he looked up at the chopper's light through the trees above them.

"..lost…no heat signature." Ronon frowned at the news as he tried to pull on his leg trapped under the stump again.

"Sir, you need to hold still, you've got a broken ankle here," one man told Ronon, but he was more interested in the radio conversation.

"Where did they lose it?" He demanded.

"Its signature was cooler than the norm anyway, but it was dropping further as it left Ronon's position. We're sweeping the area to see if we can get a lock," the chopper reported.

Ronon grunted in anger.

The tall soldier finished waving out his instructions for his team to sweep out into the trees some more. "Where the hell did it go?"

The stump had been lifted from Ronon's ankle and he looked down to see that it wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be, but he would not be running again any time soon. He muttered a particularly vulgar Satedan swear word under his breath as he hauled himself up right, with a little assistance from a soldier.

"We need to sweep all the area, check everywhere." Ronon suggested. "It could have gone into hibernation to avoid the chopper."

"There are several buildings it could have reached, if it's still here we'll find it," the man said with a determination that Ronon recognised from Sheppard. Ronon nodded, though something inside told him that it wouldn't be that easy, because nothing with this Wraith had been easy so far.

-------

It was an ancient place; deep and dark and sacred. There was something to its location, to the richness of the soil that spoke of its importance. It was a place of ancient voices, deep rich power and still quietness that nurtured something inside.

People were drawn to the place, yet some feared it. But, it had always been sacred for many generations, for many different peoples. It was a safe place to hide what needed to be hidden, for its thickness of scents and life force meant that anything could be obscured. It would be safe in a place respected and honoured forever.

Yet, times moved and people changed. What was once revered and honoured had been abandoned completely only to be found again by those seeking only lands and greed. What had been respected and revered had been ignored and built upon. Yet, what was deeply secure in the Earth still waited, for perhaps it was even safer now; where none would think to look.

Deeply buried and forgotten it would go unseen under the frantic small lives of the city above. Waiting till it could be used, till it would step out of the rich hidden darkness to be used to remind others of the primitive beginnings of life. It was a sacred place and it would be remembered again…if only he could reach it in time.

Teyla woke abruptly from the dark memories in her dream. She sat upright, her heart hammering through her rib cage. She touched her hand to her chest, feeling the rapid anxious beating beneath. Her breaths were loud and vibrant to her ears as she realised not only that she really was alive, but that she was no longer in any pain. She pushed back the sheets over her and lifted the pale basic shirt someone had put her in. Her middle came into view and she slid her fingers over the area she knew had been the site of her injury. There was no sign of what had happened to her, no scar or blemish on her skin. A part of her suggested it hadn't been real, but she knew that would be denial.

She flattened her palm over her middle, feeling the ghost memory of her pain, but it was already fading; as if her mind did not wish to remember it any more. She let it go, but the memories around it did not. The Wraith, its cold angry mind, had killed her. It was not like she hadn't come up against death before, but this was different, for she was sure that she remembered her life ending. She took a few deep breaths to centre herself and prove to herself that she did in fact still live. This was real.

She realised she did not know where she was and dropped her shirt to turn her focus on something other than her mixed chaotic emotions. She was in a small room that looked like it belonged in an Infirmary of some kind. The walls were painted in a dull pale colour and the building felt vaguely empty around her.

She sat up further in the bed, moving gently as if she expected her wound to be painful again. Of course she felt nothing, except her own thundering breaths and heart beat. She had the desperate need to hold Torren, to see him and she closed her eyes against the flood of knowing that she had almost left him motherless. Her heart ached inside her chest at the thought and the knowledge that she had actually died. Her mind dwelt on the memories a little longer, refusing to let them fade just yet. She remembered the pain of simply breathing, remembered it growing more painful and difficult to draw in a clear breath and then everything had stopped and she had known she would not draw in another again. John's voice seemed to echo in that moment which led to nothing, but suddenly breathing in again, her pain gone. Though there was no memory she knew, somehow, that she had been dead. She had no memories of meeting the Ancestors in that moment, of seeing her lost family once again. That thought seemed to preoccupy her more then than the fact that she had actually died.

Something drew her attention and she turned abruptly to look around the room, only to find that she was alone as she had thought. She stilled in that moment, listening to the empty quiet of the room and something inside stirred. Something growing inside her that felt more like her old self, yet she knew she would never again be as she was. This experience had changed her.

She took a breath and remembered that work needed to be done. She pulled aside all the sheets away from her legs and swung herself round to place her feet on the floor. It was a cold shiny floor beneath her bare feet as she walked away from the bed towards a lone chair on which sat a folded black uniform. She wondered where her own clothes were, but then she remembered the blood. She pulled on the clothes, surprised that they fitted so well, and that someone had even remembered to leave boots for her.

As she dressed the pieces of her memories all came back together, as did all she had seen in the Wraith's mind. She had to find someone quickly to take her back into the field to stop the Wraith. Dressed, she stood and walked to the door, peering through the small glass window before she opened it to stark bare corridors of a military base.

-----

It had taken him over an hour to get to the showers. He had made sure that he had read all the current reports and spoken directly with every unit out there in the field, but there wasn't much else he could do at the moment. So, he had finally taken Carson and Rodney's none to subtle hints that he should go and change.

He dropped his change of clothes down on the bench in the changing room, before he turned and locked the door behind him. There were other washrooms downstairs so he felt safe in locking this one up for himself. He had removed his vest earlier, but admittedly there was still plenty of blood soaked into his jacket and trousers. He sat down on the bench with a rather defeated air and began pulling off his boots.

They had no idea where the Wraith had gone. Somehow it had evaded all their search teams, after having killed half of them and injured most of the other half. Uosa, who had looked as pale and exhausted as he had felt, had explained that the Wraith usually dropped in and out of hibernation. It was a clever technique as in that state its life readings didn't register, it couldn't be picked up on heat seekers and Uosa couldn't sense him. He would apparently drop in and out of this state as he moved around, and when in hibernation Wraith had the ability to still sense when people came too close. A feeding instinct as Carson had called it.

John had sent out orders to have the entire area around the mall cordoned off and a line of soldiers formed around it, but the truth was that the net might be too late. The Wraith may already have snuck out of the area before they got the net up. Uosa hadn't been too helpful, as she had had to sleep herself after eating a little. John couldn't blame her, in fact he couldn't ever think badly of her again after what she had done.

John put aside his boots noting that there was plenty of blood over them as well. He stood and stripped off his clothes, dumping them all in one heap on the floor before he walked through the empty changing room towards the showers. A wall of mirrors was set over the washbasins that he passed and he paused at the reflected sight of him. Blood was smeared in a dried thin layer over his cheek and across his forehead, despite the fact that he had wiped his face earlier. His arms were dark with dried blood as well; no wonder the others had wanted him to change.

He moved on to the showers and turned the dial to hot and the water poured down over his shoulders. The rapid rhythm of the falling water was relaxing over his back as he leant one arm against the cold white tiled wall. The water circling his feet which ran away down towards the drain was running red now, a pale weak colour that stained the clean white surface of the floor. John idly rubbed one foot over the staining and the red washed away. He looked down at his arms over which the dried blood still clung.

He didn't understand what had happened. Of course he knew that Teyla had been injured and Uosa had saved her, but there was something in the middle that had been so raw and painful that he had tried not to think about it for the past hour or so. Yet, now alone, he couldn't stop his mind from wilfully wandering into those memories.

The pain of his fear for Teyla swarmed back over him and he felt the prickling in the back of his eyes that heralded tears. He squeezed his eyes shut willing himself to be strong, but he had been through enough of these kinds of situations to know what aftermath was like. He might try to hold it back, but it would get you eventually. But, then he hadn't really been through anything like today before. He had thought he had experienced most things over the years; from crushing failure, to ultimate rejection and then the horrors of what the Pegasus galaxy had shown him. Through it all he had worked on, striving onwards. But, today had been different. People said there were moments in the military life when you came up against the truth of the life you had chosen. Those moments which lifelong dedicated service men and women would suddenly afterwards say; enough. They would walk away from the military life and no one really blamed them for it. Usually it was after something so horrific that they then decided they had seen enough and left, instead turning towards a hopefully brighter happier life.

John had experienced plenty of doubting moments, plenty of points in his career in which he wondered if he should stay serving, but they were usually passing thoughts that everyone experienced. Today had been different. He had held Teyla to him and had hated the life he and she had chosen. A life that would lead to Teyla to being skewered through by a clothes rail pole in an empty closed department store by a creature so cruel and evil that it would happily kill her without a moment's thought. She had a beautiful little boy who deserved to grown up happily with his parents. John hated himself for being part of what had brought her to that moment. He blamed himself for pulling her into it and for not taking enough care over her today.

Such thoughts of regret and self recriminations were not new either, but the splitting pain of holding Teyla as she literally died in his arms had been new. It had shattered something inside him that he hadn't felt so strongly since he had lost his mom as a kid. What he had felt today had been deep and so very earth shattering that it was almost unrecognisable to him now. He knew then this was what he had been trying to avoid for so many years with Teyla; losing her. He had known on some stupidly intelligent level of himself that she was the kind of woman that would demand everything of him, including that kind of intense, raw pain when she left. For years he had kept her at a distance, believing he was saving himself something and that maybe he was saving her from him as well; because he would fail her eventually.

And today had arrived despite all his attempts to stop it and he hadn't seen it coming. He had felt just what he had feared; he had let her down and then had felt what he never wanted to. He remembered the feeling of standing over his father's casket; the mix of emotions then had been so conflicted that they had been a dull heavy weight that had sat in his chest and stomach for months afterwards. But, today had been different to that; whereas that had been dull and heavy, today had been as raw as the open gushing wound in Teyla's middle had been.

He had cried over her. He had begged her to stay with him and had promised to always look over her son. He had opened himself up in ways he had never wanted to, but at the same time perhaps had always wanted to. The tears dripped from his cheeks and nose now, dripping down to the still reddish water falling around his feet.

He stood back from the wall and turned his attention to the simple bar of soap set to one side. He soaped up his hands and set about scrubbing away the last remains of her blood over him. The suds turned pink with it and when he washed them away his skin felt cleaner, but the emotions remained. He washed himself over, methodically cleaning himself and letting the tears run with the shower's water. No one could see him and no one could judge him here.

Washed thoroughly he rested a forearm back against the tile wall and sighed down at the clear water around his feet. He really hated the aftermath. He turned off the water, but he didn't move. He watched the water trickle down to its last around his feet and then the last of it running off to the drain, leaving everything white and clean again. His tears had stopped at least, but the weakness in his chest was still there. He rested his head against his forearm, ignoring the cold chill over his wet body.

He could hardly believe what Uosa had done. He had watched her pulling that damn pole out of Teyla, saw the strain and effort in her entire body as she worked at something John could never hope to understand. But, Teyla had still gasped her last breath and the fear in John had almost broken him as he had seen the life go out of her. Uosa had asked him to help, but what could he do? All he could do was beg Teyla to return, to talk to her of Torren and how he needed his mom. How they all needed her and somewhere in those repetitive words, many of which he couldn't recall anymore, something had happened. He had closed his eyes and begged again and something had happened. He had no idea what, and maybe it was all Uosa, but he remembered his hand under Teyla's head growing hot and he had calmed. Then Teyla had gasped for life and Uosa had lifted her hand away from Teyla's entirely healed middle and John was stunned. He had seen the 'miracles' of the Ancients before, but this was new, for he had been so invested in what happened. It had shaken him more than anything before.

He stood away from the wall and padded his dripping wet body back into the changing room. He had forgotten to bring a towel with him, but he didn't care. The cold seemed to help him now. He moved to the washbasins, leant his hands against the cool surface and took in his appearance once again. The dried blood had gone from his face, but the dark circles under his rather red tinged eyes had not. His eyes dropped to his bare chest, absent of the comforting weight of his dog tags and he knew he wouldn't give up this life. It was a part of him and though he hated it sometimes, he knew it was also a part of Teyla. It had almost killed her and tomorrow none of them might be as lucky, but it was their choices. He smiled grimly them as he dropped his head down, for he remembered his words to Uosa before they had entered the mall; that everyone knew what they had signed up for on this mission. Teyla and he both knew what they had signed up for and his moments of doubt drifted away in the cool light of returning reason.

He took a breath and let it out smoothly, his mind once again returning to the problem of the Wraith. He headed away from the mirrors towards the bench holding his towel and his clean clothes.

A fist hammering on the door.

"Colonel, Teyla's awake," a voice reported from the other side and the last pieces of tension in John faded; she was okay.

"On my way," John shouted back through the door as he hurriedly dried himself down and reached for his new uniform.

--------  
TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter: **8

-------

The scream woke her in an instant, its shrill grating through her mind and in her ears where the sound penetrated the door into her room. Uosa shrugged aside the thin blankets over her, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and listened intently.

The silence of their home echoed in the wake of the scream, leaving the stillness feeling empty and uncomfortable. Usoa's mind instinctively reached out to the one who loved her to the point of oppression, but as soon as the contact was made she pulled back. The pain and overwhelming fear was so cold and terrifying that Uosa could not bear to feel it from her own mother. She shut down her senses, closing herself away from the warmth of her father's mind as much as from the fear pervading her mother's.

Uosa realised she had wrapped her bed's blanket around her shoulders without realising. Though it had been many years since she had been young and in need of such comfort around her, she sought it out now fearing the shadows. The room around her felt heavy with darkness and outside she heard a creature cry out, its voice carrying easily through the still night air. She stood and moved carefully across her room to the small window that looked out on the darker world outside her home.

Pulling aside the shutters from the open wound of the window, she saw the tall trees outside, normally appearing strong and protecting, now felt like silent predators waiting for her. The wolf howled again and Uosa's breath caught; her breath visible in the night air before her before she held it in sharply.

Excitement mixed with fear through her as she looked out into the darkness and heard the calls of those creatures wandering free within the forests. The deep powerful knowledge moved through her; her gift. She felt destiny lingering on the edges of the forest and it called to her, telling her that soon things would change and, though that knowledge would haunt her mother, she also knew it would lead herself into a future she could not begin to predict.

------

Sweat dripped down his face, irritating his skin and pooling into his eyelashes. He swept it aside again, clearing his vision, as he pressed his back further against the twisted bark of the tall tree. He waited, listening for his pursuers. The moonlight was pale and heavy, but it was bright enough to fall with clear weight across the eerily still surface of the swamp.

His breathing became the loudest thing he could hear and he drew enough of his attention away from listening for danger to work to calm himself. He loosened his grip on the stolen knife and made himself relax his hands, for only with open hands could one pray to the Gods. But, though he believed that, he also knew the value and importance of holding onto the knife that could be his only form of protection. The gods in their bizarre wisdom seemed to protect some with demonic grace and leave others to suffer at those others' hands. He had once lived as one protected and respected, but the dark fever had swept through his home lands and all his family had been lost to him. Alone, and no longer loved by the Gods, he had left to find food, only to find the other kingdoms full of those who would kill you to feed their Gods. That he had survived so long was a miracle that he prayed meant that the Gods had turned their favour upon him once again.

Tonight, had challenged that belief. He had travelled so far, run so far, that he had no idea whose lands these were, but all he cared about was that he had long ago left the domain of those who loved to feed their Gods with blood, hearts and terror. The knife, tightly gripped once again, had been theirs and its sharp dark stone edges had protected him since he had escaped their clutches. Now it appeared that some had hunted him beyond their own borders. Perhaps it had been the companion of the one he had killed for the knife? The one who had tried to take back the corn bread he had stolen to feed his hungry belly?

Something croaked to his left and he was pulled out of his memories of blood and revenge. The stillness around him began to fill with the ghostly empty sounds of the creatures that lived in this dark damp place. The water, cold and still around his calves, was now growing too uncomfortable and he felt something small nibble at his submerged skin. So he moved, carefully following the falling bank below the twisted trees that reached up from the swampy land like fingers reaching up to the Gods.

His path was difficult, for there was none other than the one he made, but he heard nothing worrying behind him that told of pursuers. Perhaps it was the warnings of this land that made they stay away, or perhaps he had simply lost them after all. His legs burned with his fast travels and his belly groaned with its painful emptiness, but he needed somewhere more secure to hide before he could rest.

Dark shadows stirred across the still water and he paused, seeing something drop down below the water's surface. Panicked he turned to the banks and scrambled up. He had heard the tales of the water Gods that lived here, who demanded a heavy price for passage through their sacred lands. Mud clung to his hands, belly and knees as he struggled up out of the water and got enough purchase under him to stand and move away from the water's edge. He did not look back, not wishing to disturb the water's powerful owners that may take offense to him.

He stumbled through several boggy areas as he moved with as much stealth as the moonlight and trees would allow him, but as he moved on he began to feel more secure. Pausing to catch his breath he reached out to support himself against one tree, only he did not feel what he expected there. The warmth of living bark was instead the chilled coolness of stone. He snatched his hand away and flashing memories of tall stone temples, their steps coated in blood, returned.

A wide face of a creature he did not recognise stared back at him. He held his hand back still, nursing it as if he had been bitten or stung, but the stone creature did not move. Fear easing he began to relax enough to properly take in the still shape. Whatever God it used to represent was no longer recognisable, but he knew that he was staring at a sacred place. He could feel the extra stillness around him, for even the small creatures and birds that lived in the trees would not approach this edifice. But, could it be that finally the Gods, perhaps even the old forgotten ones, were now offering him the protection he sought?

He edged closer, drawn in by the degraded suggestions of the creature it had once been. Eyes, teeth and wide cheek bones was all he could make out, but as he looked lower he saw that the mouth below was an open dark hole half filled with the damp ground. He dropped to his knees and peered into the darkness; could this be the protection he needed to spend a night of safety from the evil men after him?

He pulled aside some rocks and dirt, and through the moonlight he could see that the stone creature's mouth was the opening of a cave for sure. He would need more light once he was in there, so he turned and sought out enough dry pieces of wood and some flint. He worked in the cover of two bent entwined trees, until a flash of fire brightened his world. He set the flames carefully with enough dry material into the top of a branch and moved back to the cave entrance. Dropping to his belly he shuffled into the creature's mouth and held the fire out before him and the curved edges inside became clear. Pleased, he shuffled forward some more, only for the edge of the ground to give away suddenly from under him and there was nothing he could do to stop himself falling into the mouth of the forgotten God.

He landed with a crack in his shoulder and he gasped, dirt in his mouth and nose. Coughing he spat out the damp bitter soil and sat upright. The moonlight shone in above at a sharp angle, highlighting the opposite wall of the cave and below it his fire still glowed despite its fall. He struggled upright, his shoulder paining him a little, but he reached for his branch and was pleased to see the small flames still burned well. He stood and looked up at the entrance again, that was now much further above him than he had realised. He was not sure he would be able to climb out again.

Moving to the wall below the entrance he tested it to find it smooth and well cut. Several piles of earth had built up against the wall which supplied him with some extra height, but it was not enough to reach the entrance again; he was trapped. He stood back, a new panic now worrying him. But then as he looked back down at the piles of earth he noticed that it was all fresh and was not all due to his entrance. He looked up at the entrance again and saw now that it had been opened recently by someone. He crouched down and ran some of the soil through his fingers; it was drier than the dark soil he had knocked down with him, but it was still far too damp to have been sitting here longer than a day or two. Someone else had been down here.

He turned, the firelight flickering around the cave. A pool of extra darkness drank up the light across from him and he moved towards it cautiously; a tunnel. Someone else had entered this ancient place, but where had they gone? Perhaps there was another way out?

He edged forward into the tunnel, the flame light dancing over carvings sculpted into the walls. They were twisting worrying shapes, full of sharp points and many lines pressed together which displayed something he had no comprehension of, yet some part of him knew it not to be kind. The tunnel travelled on, the moonlight behind him fading until only darkness encircled his small flame light. He paused, the tunnel immediately around him all he could see, but he knew there was nothing else he could do but follow this tunnel; he could not escape from the way he had come in and perhaps there was another way out. He would be trapped here anyway, so he should go on.

So he moved onwards, his stolen knife tightly gripped in one hand, following the tunnel for so long that his flames began to dim. He was about to give up and run back the way he had come, when the darkness parted slightly before him and the tunnel came to an end. He lifted his feeble light and it spilled out weakly into a massive space ahead of him. It was another wide cave, but he could not see its floor, so he carefully trod forward until he could see that the space extended far downwards, perhaps into the very heart of the earth. There were strange carvings here as well, some sitting up from the surface with twisting roots mixed in with the stone. Water dripped in from above, running small streams down the walls and he followed the course of one, following it all the way down into the very depth below where his flame light could never reach. He stared into the dark depths below and knew that this was where demons would live, perhaps even from where they were birthed. From here they would climb up from the hellish worlds of the other places and into the light of this world to torment its people.

He continued to stare down into the darkness, as if it might suddenly part and allow him insight into what lay below. Nothing moved, but as he stared into it he began to feel as if it was staring back at him. A chill filled his heart and he drew back away from it, stepping back from the edge overlooking the mouth into darkness, but as he stepped back he felt movement behind him.

He turned, swinging the flames round and the demon jumped at him. He heard his own scream as he thrashed out at the creature that terrified him more than any blood soaked steps ever hand. It shoved at him, knocking his knife from his hand, but he managed to hit the demon across its shockingly bright head with the branch, and he saw the flames catch its hair. It growled and he had hope for a moment, but then he had forgotten the mouth behind him. He felt the edge of the stone under his foot and then it was gone.

Air rushed up around him and he saw shadows mixing with dripping water as he fell. His branch of light was pulled from his hand and he saw it flicker below him as he dropped. He was falling into the other world and he held up his arms to protect himself, opening his palms as if that call to the Gods would save him now. Shadows rushed up below him and a strange metallic smell surrounded him before he heard the stirring cry of a creature trapped below.

He would never know what he hit at the very bottom of the shaft, but it was not stone or water, nor was it the other world as he would have predicted, but something far more alien.

-------

The new uniform did not sit comfortably on John's shoulders. He adjusted his collar, wishing he had packed a spare uniform from home. As he opened the door to the base corridor he wondered when Atlantis has become 'home' even when it was on Earth.

Two Airmen were marching down the corridor towards him, and they both straightening upon seeing him up ahead, but John's attention went to the woman behind them. Uosa strode down the corridor, not with any clear excess speed or determination, but she seemed to fill the space. Her dark coat hung around her shoulders and beneath it the overhead lighting glinted off the rows of blades she wore around her waist and down her legs. John wondered if he should have insisted she remove them all before coming onto the base, but he suspected she would have either have ignored him or would have been happy to remain outside with them.

He was surprised by the feelings he felt as he watched her approach. The last couple of hours had changed his opinion of her in a way that would possibly be seen as negative from a military perspective; he felt indebted to her. And he realised that he was more than a little in awe of her. These were two emotions that he was not used to feeling and had never felt comfortable with before.

He wanted to move ahead of her and her guards to lead the way into the meeting room down the corridor, but he found himself waiting for her. As she neared she fixed her dark gaze on him and he inclined his head slightly and she returned the polite gesture. John had no idea what he wanted to say or why he was standing there. He wondered for a moment if she had done something to him whilst she had saved Teyla.

"Sheppard," she greeted him as she reached him and stopped.

"Uosa," he replied. When they had first reached the base following Teyla's…healing, Uosa had looked pale and exhausted. Now John could see clearly that a meal and rest had returned Uosa to her former appearance and strength. "You feeling better?"

"I am indeed…thank you," she said the last words as if she rarely said them and wasn't sure how to correctly say them.

John swallowed. She was thanking him after what she had done for him, for them all?! "I think that should be my line," he joked back, trying to ignore the strange tightness in his throat.

She frowned briefly, angling her head like she was interpreting his words, and then turned her deep dark eyes on him again. "I did not work alone," she told him simply.

John didn't know quite what that meant, but wasn't sure if he should ask.

"There is more at stake here than one Wraith, Sheppard," she said as if he had asked a question.

He opened his mouth to ask the question, but a door opened down the corridor and Uosa looked away from him down towards the interruption. John turned and looked down the ugly walls of the corridor to see Teyla standing in the furthest doorway. She stood halfway in and out of the doorway to the meeting room beyond, through which John could already hear Rodney complaining about something. Teyla's expression was one of impatience, which was a surprise on her, but he was more interested in how healthy she looked, so alive. Her look of impatience transformed instantly when she saw him and Uosa, and a wide open smile brightened her already healthy complexion. John felt his heart skip in his chest; memories of blood and last rattling breaths suddenly unavoidably in the forefront of his mind.

"Teyla, it is good to see you," Uosa said as she moved forward down the corridor. John was actually glad of Uosa's interruption as it gave him the few moments he needed to push back his wayward thoughts. He focused on Uosa's back as the Airmen followed her down towards Teyla.

"Uosa," Teyla was saying as she moved out of the doorway to meet the woman in the corridor. The door swung shut behind her cutting off the sounds inside. "I have not the words to thank you," Teyla said softly as she reached Uosa.

Uosa inclined her head, bowing slightly. "It was my honour." John noticed how clearly Uosa's attitude had changed towards Teyla; where before she had spoken to Teyla with vague interest, now there was something almost close to affection in her voice. "I understand that you were able to glimpse some of the Wraith's plan before he struck you down?" The sudden return to business was rather startling, but it didn't seem to bother Teyla.

"Yes, I have been waiting for you both. The others are inside," Teyla told Uosa with that unusual worried tone again.

"Then, let us proceed," Uosa replied and moved forward past Teyla towards the meeting room. Her two guards hurried to follow her. The door opened again down the corridor and the sounds of the full room beyond once again filled the air, only to be cut off again. Then John was alone in the corridor with Teyla.

"How you feeling?" He asked as he headed down the last couple of metres to meet her in the middle of the corridor. He could hardly believe she was really standing there, bright and healthy as if nothing had happened. The echo of warm blood on his hands was not as easily to forget.

She moved forward to meet him and she reached one hand towards him. "I am well," she replied and he realised he had taken her hand. It felt warm and alive in his and he tightened his hold on her without thinking. His heart hammered in his chest at the clear reality of her survival and at the unusual, enjoyable, sensation of her hand in his.

"You sure?" He found himself asking as he stood in front of her, her hand still in his.

She inclined her head, smiling softly at him. "I am sure." She smiled again, before it faded as she looked up directly into his eyes. "Thank you, John," she said with that frank open honesty she had that always made him admire her but also feel so uncomfortable. He was never one to show such open clear emotion; he hid it, controlled it, yet she displayed hers so openly it was almost over powering, especially now in sharp contrast to all he was trying to keep inside.

"I didn't do anything, it was all Uosa," he replied, using the excuse to briefly look away from her towards the small mesh windows of the doors ahead through which the mystery woman had disappeared.

A flicker of some unidentifiable emotion passed through Teyla's expression before she smiled again at him. "Thank you for being there with me," she told him.

John didn't know how to respond to that and the memories were all flooding back again. He could only nod to her as he worked to push back the torrent of emotions that were demanding to be acknowledged, but he would not allow them out.

Her eyes were still locked on his, and he felt desperately uncomfortable. Her hand tightened around his for a moment before she let go and the absence of her warmth was almost like he really was back in that store and about to lose her again. He felt like he had just ruined some nice moment between them, but he had no idea how to repair it. He should have said something clever and appropriate, but he couldn't find the words that would be right.

"Come, John, I have important information to share," she said abruptly into his confused thoughts and feelings. Her tone was back to business again and it was far too normal for him. She turned towards the meeting room and reached for the door.

He stepped forward reaching her before she pulled the door open, but the words that had lingering on his tongue were gone, and he had no idea what they were even going to be. 'I'm so happy you didn't die', or 'that was one of the worst experiences of my life' or even; 'please don't leave me again'. He couldn't find the right words or the courage to say them.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked instead. He had reached for her arm he realised, but it had been subtle enough that he pulled his arm back to his side without her having seen the move.

She looked back up at him with her usual smile and she nodded. "Yes, John. I am fine."

"Okay," he replied weakly.

She pulled open the door and walked ahead of him into the busy room. He had been so looking forward to seeing her again; to be reassured that she was fine and that there were no lasting affects of what had happened to her. He remembered carrying her out of the mall and into the car. He had kept her in his arms all the way to the base and then into its small infirmary. He realised now that he had expected their reunion to have been easier than it had actually been. They had shared a vital moment in that mall, and he had expected there to have been some clear easy connection between them now. But, it was just them again and he was once again filled with all the ambivalence he normally associated with his relationship with Teyla. But, added to that was the knowledge that what had happened today had shaken him to his core, but nothing had really changed. That seemed to hurt more than anything.

The meeting room door began to swing shut behind her and he saw it pause where she held it open for him. He broke out of his confused trance and moved forward finally, following her into the improvised war room.

The atmosphere permeated into him immediately; this was an environment he understood and even enjoyed. The long table set to one side was almost entirely covered with charts, tablets, reports and empty plastic cups.

"About time!" Rodney complained from his station halfway down the table around which everyone was now sitting down. There were at least three empty plastic cups around McKay, which had no doubt held strong coffee and from the wide wired look in his eyes John would have to make sure Rodney didn't drink anymore.

John sat and automatically reached for a report file, but there was none of course. What they needed to hear would be presented fresh from Teyla. There had been no change out in the field; no sign of the Wraith. It was Teyla's input now which would finally, hopefully, fill in some of the much needed answers to the many questions that still lingered. Ronon dropped down into the chair beside John.

"I thought you were supposed to stay in the Infirmary?" John asked in surprise as he took in Ronon's very clean relaxed appearance. In fact even his nose looked like its swelling had gone down. Now that John was looking at his friend he could have sworn that Ronon had had a lot more bruises on his face earlier.

"Usoa helped patch me up," Ronon replied with a gruff shrug.

John looked down the table to where Uosa sat at the far end.

"I felt he would be a valuable asset in this battle," she offered.

John closed his mouth and nodded. "Great, yes, of course. Thanks," he added lamely and wondered if she would be able to help with the deep lingering emotional ache in his chest. He cleared his throat and looked up to see that everyone around the table were all looking in one direction; at Teyla. He decided that there was no point in pretending to lead into this. He linked his hands and leant his arms onto the table. "So, Teyla?" He asked.

Teyla looked at him and nodded, but he saw a grim set had formed to her expression. She took a breath as she looked down, gathering her thoughts. She looked up. "There is a Wraith Queen on Earth."

-------  
TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter: **9

-------

The smell of the metal was the first penetrating sensation he became aware of as he rose up from his dark sleep. Nothing stirred around him except the compartment in which he was hidden. The walls were basic and only barely held out the night's air, which as he woke further, he could taste the light moisture of the rain falling outside. He opened his arms from around himself and pulled his mind into focus. The short sleeps were useful, but disorientating to enter into and out of so frequently.

He dropped the tattered blankets from around him as he moved from his protective corner towards a tiny hole in the metal box that was his transport. Outside he saw that the landscape was still passing by, but that the transport was slowing slightly. It did not concern him as it had done so several times on the route so far.

He watched as lights grew in number beyond the banks that outlined the transport's rails. The humans' advancements appeared to be accelerating faster than ever before. In only a few hundred sun cycles since he last woke they had almost entirely changed the face of their planet. It was a distasteful sight to see.

The compartment lurched abruptly as the braking mechanism activated and the transport began to slow rapidly. The banks rose up obscuring the dark landscape from him, but he had seen enough. He pulled back and returned to his corner, drawing the blankets up around him as a light form of camouflage if the humans were to open this compartment.

As the transport slowed, the massive coils of worked metal stored in the compartment with him groaned in their holdings. They were no doubt part of a human manufacturing process, on their way to a factory of some kind. He caught himself wondering what these sheets of metal would become; idle interests or weapons?

The compartment lurched one final time and the transport ground to a halt. He held still extending his senses to pick up the distant sound of human voices. Doors rattled on railings down the long line of the transport. He waited silently, listening to the conversations outside, of which he could not make out a single word, but he already could judge that this was only a pause on their route. New voices arrived and the old left. Doors rattled and slammed shut again and in a few minutes the transport began to roll forward again.

Certain he would be safe for another long stretch before the transport halted once again, he relaxed further into his corner, but the distaste of his situation would not allow him to rest just yet. That he was forced to hide like a herd animal was a lingering bitter taste to his senses. But, they would pay; he would make sure of that.

He drew his focus away from his brooding thoughts and onto the call which echoed through him, to feel its gentle seductive pull. Satisfied he was indeed still travelling towards her, he closed the connection, fearing to reveal her. He held still waiting and sensing for the hunter's mind invading his, but he could not feel her. Pleased that he had foiled the hunter so far, he turned his attention to slowing his body once again, preparing to enter his deep sleep once again.

As he began to sink into its welcome embrace he found himself drifting in memories of the last time he had seen his new Queen, of the dark sunken place which he had had to dig into to reach her. He knew she was safe, for now, but he had to wonder where he would find her now. Would the humans have built one of their new cities over her? Or would she still be hidden in swampy dark realms?

-------

The room went still, everyone reacting in the same way; shock and concern. Teyla had expected immediate questions from her friends and colleagues, but no one responded right away, not even Rodney. Perhaps it had been the events of the day having tired them all, or perhaps the news had been so worrying to silence them completely. Teyla wasn't sure, but she turned from their shocked expressions as Uosa spoke. The woman's intelligent dark eyes locked with Teyla's and there was a complex mixture of anger and concern in their depths.

"The Queen is dead; I killed her long ago. She could not have survived."

"There is another," Teyla replied.

"Wraith have only one Queen at a time," Uosa insisted, but Teyla didn't take any offence to the woman's questions.

"I was not able to see all the details, but I know that when they…arrived on Earth, that there was a young Queen with them, as well as the older Queen."

Uosa's expression shifted subtly then. "I would have sensed her," Uosa protested, but a shadow of realisation passed over her features.

"Not if she is in hibernation," Teyla confirmed as gently as she could.

"A Wraith can not remain indefinitely in a hibernating state, she would need to feed. I would have sensed her." There was a sense of hesitation behind the confidence now in the woman's protests, and Teyla knew Uosa had already surmised what had happened.

"They wake her as little as possible and only when they knew you were…asleep. The Wraith took turns in waking her and only one at a time would tend to her, bringing her enough humans to feed her quickly before returning her into hibernation," Teyla told her. Uosa's mind brushed against Teyla's and she allowed the contact, allowing her to see the flashing memories from the Wraith; to see his knowledge of his hidden secret Queen. Uosa's mind was a gentle, yet forceful, touch and one that Teyla found herself curious to linger in and learn from. The contact was familiar now, and its intimacy no longer worried Teyla; for surely Uosa had had access to Teyla's mind fully during her healing. Uosa touched heavily into the Wraith memories and Teyla let her look deeper, to seek out the truth to their source. After only a moment, Teyla felt Uosa's acceptance and her mind pulled away.

"They were more cunning than I gave them credit," Uosa muttered quietly.

"Exactly how _many_ Wraith were there on Earth?" Rodney demanded abruptly.

Teyla watched Uosa turn to him, her expression closing up once again. "They are all gone now, Doctor McKay. Save this last one," Uosa looked back at Teyla, "and now this younger Queen."

"What if there are more of them hiding in hibernation?" Rodney asked, his tone edging on panic.

Teyla was shaking her head even as Uosa replied. "I would have sensed them."

"You didn't 'sense' this new Queen!" Rodney argued, "what if there's a third Queen somewhere?!"

"There is only this one, Rodney," Teyla told him calmly. "They took great pains to protect and hide her."

"Why?" John asked from down the end of the table. Teyla turned to meet his eyes, seeing the tiredness around them.

"They were…afraid," Teyla struggled with this concept. The sensation she had sensed from the creature's mind was clearly that of fear. She also remembered the deep pain and alarm that was driving it. She turned her attention back to Uosa sat at the other end of the table to John. "The Wraith fears you, as children fear the dark."

Teyla wasn't sure if it was surprise or pleasure that briefly crossed Uosa's expression.

"What good does keeping one Queen on ice do them?" Walker asked.

"She can breed more Wraith," Carson suggested.

"But, Xena here would have sensed that and killed them all as well," Rodney replied as he gestured down the table to Uosa. Teyla tried not to wince at his rudeness, but Uosa did not seem to take offence. "In fact," he turned to Uosa fully now, "why didn't you know they were keeping this extra Queen alive anyway? Surely some of them would have been thinking about her, planning when to visit her."

It was a question that had occurred to Teyla and she had her own theory, but she waited for Uosa to answer, hoping that the hunter would be forthcoming.

Uosa had her chin resting in her fingers, the picture of thoughtfulness as her dark eyes moved to meet Teyla's. "I sensed nothing that suggested that they were keeping anything from me, that is until this last Wraith. He has been able to hide his plan and destination from me. I had wondered why that was, and suspected he had grown more skilled at blocking me at a distance. Though, now I realise that it would take a much stronger mind than a simple Wraith warrior to block me in not just one Wraith mind but all of their number. It would take a Queen."

Teyla put the pieces together and nodded at Uosa, following the line of thought. "The original older Queen – she could have hidden the knowledge within the others' minds from you."

"Perhaps she even limited the number who knew of the younger Queen's location." Uosa lifted her chin from her hand and frown deeply now. "And I admit I would not have gone looking for something in their minds which I did not know existed. A Queen's mind is very powerful and it is possible that she was able to completely hide this knowledge from me." There was a definite tone of anger and self recrimination to Uosa's words and expression.

"You could not have know, Uosa," Teyla assured her.

Uosa looked to her again. "I should have known. However, one Wraith Queen is easily destroyed." Teyla couldn't hold back her wince at the arrogance in the woman's words, but she also knew it was a tone borne of experience. The dark deep hatred and fear the Wraith felt for this woman had been shocking for Teyla to discover. Looking at her now, it was hard to understand how the Wraith could fear her so, but then Uosa had killed all of their kind on this world.

"Why wake this younger Queen now?" John asked. His question was directed towards Teyla and she turned to him, full of regret at what she would have to tell him.

"I do now know any more than that, only that he plans to wake the Queen and enact an ancient plan," she told him.

"Do you where she is?" He asked.

"No, only that he still has some distance to travel," she told. "I am sorry, John."

He looked surprised for a moment and then gave her a half smile. "Don't be sorry, you found out more than anyone else has." The words he did not say hung in the air and Teyla could feel the others thinking the same as John; that she had almost paid a very high price to learn this. She knew John thought it too high a price, but Teyla knew that it was not.

"He has a plan and I know he is pleased about it." It was that fact over the others that had driven more fear into Teyla when she had seen the horrors in his mind. "He is filled with fury over the destruction of the Hive ship and he hates that humans are so prevalent on this world. He is full of anger and the need for revenge. He is very dangerous, John, and we must find him before he finds this other Queen."

"It is most likely the original Queen's plan," Uosa cut in thoughtfully. "Perhaps she even wished to hide the younger Queen to prevent her from threatening her own reign."

Teyla inclined her head. "Possibly, I saw only what this Wraith knew and felt." Images from the creature's thoughts flashed through Teyla's mind as she studied what she could of them. "His memories of feeding, fighting and hunting all mixed together. His pain at the loss of his original Queen and his hatred of you, Uosa."

It had been night when the original Queen had been killed. The skies had been dark with thunder and lightening had lit up the land, highlighting the flashing sharpness of Uosa's blades. She had fought with skill, speed and a wealth of powers unseen. The Queen had fought her viciously in turn; her few protectors already killed except him. He had tried to kill Uosa, but she had been a fury of power and hatred herself. His wounds had been deep as he had lain on the wet grass, his Queen above him and everything had gone still. The Queen's mind had locked into Uosa's and the war had turned internal. He had struggled upright to take advantage of the stillness of his quarry. But, the lightening had lit up the sky once again and his Queen had dropped to her knees, blood flowing from her nose. He had rushed at Uosa, palms extended towards her, ready to tear her life from her with a savage joy, for she had killed so many of his kind and had forced them to hide away in cellars and crypts like vermin. He and his Queen had been forced to travel from continent to continent of this planet just to stay ahead of this hunter and her kind. So, he had thrown himself at her with great fury, but she had simply turned and a powerful force had thrust him away from her.

His memories became vague and confused after he had hit the ground, his body filled with pain and his sight blinded by concussion for long moments. Then the sky had screamed, lightening flashing downwards, and he had been able to focus enough to watch it hit his Queen. Her scream had been lost in the burning and flash of light. He had felt her mind die, but he had already been running away from the sight when the air became dark again. Something powerful and demanding had opened in his head and he had simply run. He hated himself for leaving his Queen, for not having been strong enough to protect her, but he had a new duty now; a duty that was a sudden and very real force through his body and mind.

He had not stopped his fast pace away from that hilltop, only detouring occasionally when he had spied a passing human. Their life force had healed up enough of his wounds for him to run on. He had been able to sense that the hunter had been wounded, and that she was weakened enough from her fight with the Queen not to be able to pursue him straight away. So, he took advantage of the space he had and ran on, until light began to crest the horizon and he found a place deep and dark enough in which he could sleep and hide from her for a time.

Teyla realised she had been recounting the story out loud and that everyone had been silent as they listened. She blinked her eyes, drawing herself back into the present. Rodney sat still opposite her and she watched his pale complexion turn from her, his eyes fixing on Uosa at the end of the table. Teyla turned to look at the woman, the sight of her reclined in a chair superimposed with her standing over fallen Wraith as rain fell upon her shoulders and lightening lit the sky behind her.

"Uosa," John's voice was a welcome arrival through the uncomfortable atmosphere. "I think it's time you shared with us where exactly these Wraith came from, and who exactly you are."

-------

Uosa regarded them, all eyes focused on her; their emotions vibrating with distrust and fear through the air. Even the tall strong male whom she had healed up had a touch of concern in his eyes, though there was more respect and amusement at the story than from the others.

It had been a new experience to hear of that final battle with the last Queen told through another. For that other to be the memories of the Wraith, made it even stranger still. She remembered that night herself, for she would never forget it. Now, she saw that these humans, though nowhere near sympathisers for Wraith, had altered their perception of her upon hearing the story. They did not understand, but then very few did.

She met Sheppard's eyes from the other end of the table and saw determination there. He required answers and perhaps now was finally the time to give them.

Uosa took a breath and turned her gaze towards the one window in the room. Outside the night was still thick with darkness, the trees beyond the base tall dark watchers over the secrets held within. Uosa had never felt the need to explain herself, though she had to wonder now if her reluctance to talk had just as much to do with her own pain than it did with keeping secrets.

"Do you know how the 'Ancients' came to be on this world?" She asked, seeking where she should start and how much she should tell them.

She looked back to Sheppard and saw that he was considering the same. She almost smiled. She could feel his mind was sharp and powerful; the mind of a warrior and after what had happened during the healing of Teyla she knew he was capable of even more. She wondered then if perhaps his heritage had been part of her Uncle's schemes. It would have been so like him to have side stepped the Council's restrictions in such a way. Perhaps then Sheppard was in some way distantly related to Uosa. The thought was surprisingly pleasing to her. She had had no children of her own, there had been no time, and she had felt no need to pass her burdens on to another. Yet, the possibility that there were descendants of her own family pleased her; for surely there must be, even if Sheppard were not among them. The thought occurred to her then that perhaps this convergence, this twist of destiny, did not just include her and Teyla, perhaps this man was just as important as well.

She watched him study her, judging her by some standard of his own, but she felt his natural trust of her, following her healing of Teyla, and she knew he would speak to her honestly. Though she could also feel the cleverness and subtly of his mind, and knew that there would be secrets of his own that he would keep. She would keep some of her own, but now was the time to share a story of old, one which she had never fully told to anyone before.

Sheppard's eyes moved from hers to meet those of his companions, and no doubt also his friends, before he finally looked back at her and she saw his compliance.

"We know that they left Earth originally because of a sickness that they couldn't cure. They went to the Pegasus galaxy where they began seeding new life on various planets, as they had done in this galaxy. Unfortunately this time there was a nasty side affect; the Wraith."

Uosa did not try to hide her surprise at the amount that they did know, but kept her silence still.

"The Wraith turned out to be more than the Ancients could handle, and after years of fighting the Wraith forced the Ancients to fall back to Atlantis." There was a flush of emotions from those around the table at his mention of the ancient city. Uosa could not deny that she felt the same, yet she knew why she had responded so. "The Ancients sunk the city, decided to escape the Pegasus galaxy entirely, and came back here to Earth." Sheppard fell silent, once eyebrow rose challengingly. "How'd we do?"

Uosa smiled at him, relieved more than she would have expected to learn how much they knew. But, she had also grasped enough stray emotions and looks between the group to intuit more. "You have been to Atlantis."

Sheppard's lips pressed tightly together before he finally relaxed a little and nodded. "Yes, we've been there." There was clearly more to the story than he was willing to say and normally Uosa would not have cared to learn it, but this was different. A deep need of her own pushed through and she could not contain her question.

"Does it still stand?" She asked. She knew that they would be able to hear the emotion in her voice, but she did not mind.

Sheppard nodded immediately. "Yes, it still stands."

Uosa was surprised by the wealth of emotion she felt upon hearing the news. She had not felt so much nostalgia and pleasure in a very long time. She took a breath and released it, allowing herself to relax her guard a little now. "That is very good to hear." She looked to the darkness outside the window again and knew that finally it was time to share with the people of this world what it was that she had been striving to accomplish all these long years.

"I was born on Atlantis," she began, her gaze still directed towards the window, but she was already drifting in memories as she spoke. She had rarely allowed herself to dwell in them before, but allowed herself to submerge herself into them now. "In the Pegasus galaxy." The distant memories of her early childhood in the great city glowed through her. She could still imagine that she could smell the salt air and feel the protection of its walls. But, her story started much earlier than that.

"My mother was human and had been rescued from a Wraith facility, liberated by the ones you know as the Ancients." Darker memories stirred, not her own though she knew, these were those that her mother had been unable to conceal. "It was a Wraith laboratory in which one Wraith in particular was experimenting on humans, splicing pieces of Wraith genetic code into them to study the affects. He had created the most disgusting abominations there, most of which died quickly or where killed before the mistakes could escape or worry other Wraith. I suppose some would consider my mother to have been among the fortunate, to be still human in appearance and to have been freed by the Ancients. But, her mind had been altered by the experiments."

Uosa turned from the window and looked towards Teyla, whose eyes were wide with sympathy and understanding.

"She, and those few strong enough to survive, had developed the ability to join the Wraith collective mind. However, it was not so easy to withdraw from it. Most of those affected like her lost their minds, but she remained in Atlantis and did the best she could to study the Ancients' mental skills to help her control most of what she experienced. My father was one of the Ancients who helped her with blocking the Wraith thoughts and they fell in love with one another. I was born two years later."

Images of her lost father now warmed the chilled memories of her poor mother's life. "Through my infancy I knew that the war with the Wraith began to take its toil upon my father's people. They withdrew their borders constantly and they lost many in the battles. Their advanced technology was all that saved them from complete destruction. I was perhaps ten cycles, years, old when the Wraith numbers grew so abruptly that they overwhelmed all the defences and finally only Atlantis was the final safe location for any of my father's people. The city was packed full in those last days there and the decision was made to evacuate and return to the old home of Earth."

Uosa looked past the curious eyes back towards the window. She remembered standing by the massive windows of Atlantis and watching small sea creatures swim past. It had been fascinating as a child to see the environment outside her home change so dramatically when the city had been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. There had been so many to leave the city that they had been formed into waves and her family had been one of the last. Her father, an expert in technology as was his brother, had worked to strengthen all aspects of the city. The hope had been that the city would survive as long as possible, and Uosa was glad to finally learn that their efforts had been so successful.

"Once on Earth, my family lived for a time in the area you refer to as Asia, then settled in Egypt. I had moved well into adulthood when the Wraith arrived on Earth. Not, that anyone knew…no one except my mother. Living away from the threat of the Wraith for so many years, her blocks and mental protection had waned and the Wraith's abrupt arrival had been most violent for her. My father had taught me all the mental skills I would need to protect my own thoughts and with his inherited mental abilities I was mentally stronger than my mother, but I still felt them arrive. At first it was a gradual growth of coldness deep inside that had me wondering that I had been growing ill. Then abruptly one day the cold became a pain inside and my mother had been instantly flooded by the Wraith's thoughts."

Uosa reflected on those days, when her father had struggled to help his love, using his own mind to strengthen hers. But, Uosa had been able to feel his own pain, his own fear. It had been terrifying for a young woman to know that evil had arrived, literally invading her happy home.

"My father did all he could for my mother, and gradually she was able to block them out enough to function. We travelled to the home of my father's brother; set upon the isle you now call Britain. There the Council converged to hear my mother's testimony that Wraith had arrived on Earth, but they would not readily believe her. My father's people had never been able to sense Wraith minds and had never feared of mental attacks, as long as they were well trained in their own mental skills. They mistook my mother's story as symptoms that finally her mind had broken and she was reliving past traumas."

Uosa could hear the old anger in her voice, and she worked to bring it back under her control. Even after all these years she still wished that things had been different somehow.

"They had become complacent living a relatively easy life on Earth. Most were striving towards gaining ascension and were shying away from anything that distracted them from that pursuit. So my mother and father decided to find proof for themselves. They asked me to remain with my Uncle and they headed out to hunt down what haunted my mother. Only my mother returned and she had been near death when she reached us. From her mind I learnt all I needed and once she was gone I and my Uncle approached the Council."

Uosa brushed over as much as she could the feelings accompanying the memories of holding her dying mother in her arms. From across the planet she had already felt her father's ascension following his fatal injury at the hands of the Wraith, and to then experience her mother's pain in real time had been difficult to bear. The only comfort Uosa took from that day was the unexpected moment when her mother, in her last moments, had ascended. If Uosa's father had helped his love to gain such a status, Uosa would never know. As far as Uosa knew her mother had been the first non Ancient to ascend. Perhaps that had been another sticking point for the Council. And that Uosa had no body to show to the Council to prove that it had been Wraith, and not a human, who had killed her mother had not helped. The Council had distrusted Uosa, perhaps thinking her contaminated both with her human half and Wraith genetic codes.

"Some of the Council believed me, but most were frightened; though they would never admit it. They hid behind their aspirations for ascension and their growing number of restrictions on how they should influence life on Earth. We argued that a force had to be drawn together to seek out these Wraith and kill them or they would breed and take over Earth. There was enough support and we set out to find the Wraith."

"We found them settled into an area of what is now Mexico. The Queen had been breeding warriors in the short months it had taken us to reach them. We destroyed as much as we could, but we lost many. The remaining Wraith turned and ran, but with my skills we could track them easily. We focused our main force on finding and killing the Queen. We caught up with them several times, each time destroying the hive like centre they created and each time the Queen escaped. We managed to cut down their number to no more than two hundred by our estimate at that time, however the Wraith began to change their tactics. They broke up into smaller groups, forcing us to spread our resources across the planet. They had also realised that we sought all opportunities to hide our battles from the growing number of humans. So, they began to linger closer to human settlements, striking out at them more quietly than ever before, knowing that loud open attacks on humans would draw our forces straight to them. They began to feed on humans at night and became more akin to spirits and demons lingering in the forests."

"Vampires," someone whispered.

"It took us many years to find each group of Wraith and I could only work directly with one group at a time. I tried to direct other groups from a distance, but we were limited by both the Wraith's use of dropping into hibernation when we grew close and in their superior physical strength over us. Once again it was our technology that saved us, at least at that point."

"However," Uosa could not hide the distaste and frustration from her tone now. "There had been one occasion in which a new stronger human community had witnessed not only a battle with a group of Wraith, but had scavenged lost technology from fallen warriors. I, and other leaders of the fighting force, was recalled back to the Council. By that point huge numbers of my father's people had ascended and their footprint on the planet was waning. They feared contaminating the human life on this world and forbid us to use anymore technology in our fight against the Wraith. All Ancient technology was dismantled, leaving no trace for humans to come across by themselves. The Council believed that we had damaged the Wraith greatly and that since they were spread thinly they were not the threat they once were. We disagreed, but we were ignored. Ancient technology was forbidden from use, except in very specific allotted circumstances."

"They expected you fight the Wraith with what? Knifes and axes?" Sheppard asked, his own disapproval clear.

Uosa nodded. "Yes. Their attention was now focused on containment of our own contamination of Earth. With their numbers decreasing rapidly due to ascension, they enforced their restrictions even more forcefully. So, we altered our tactics. Those still focused on preventing the Wraith from spreading turned our attention to learning new skills. We developed our bodies even further to learn how to fight hand to hand, and our mental abilities, formally focused on development, ascension or technological advancement, turned to how to use our natural skills as weapons. Those already skilled in working the natural elements and those most developed in healing taught us their skills. It took time, but we became a strong fighting force, strengthening our skills in battle when we could find a Wraith group. However, our numbers were depleting and, since we had made sure never to include humans in our battle, we had none to add to our ranks."

"The Wraith only needed patience to see their victory arrive. So, we turned our attention back to technology. With most of the Council ascended we turned to my Uncle to help us advance our own hibernation technology to help us live as long as possible to see the end of the Wraith. He worked with us to aid us in our endeavour, treading carefully around the others' restrictions without blatantly breaking them. Yet, most of his own attention had been focused on developing means to combat another more ancient enemy, whom he feared would one day terrorise humanity."

"The remaining Council called me to account on our actions and we argued forcefully. I had a unique position among the warriors in that I felt able to argue with the Council. I declared that since I was half human, their restrictions could not be applied to me. I was part of the human population they did not wish to contaminate and by restricting my attempts to protect humanity they were going against their own words. They left me alone after that, but the others with me were not always as free to act. Only my Uncle somehow managed to hide his secret works, but I still suspect that he had in fact ascended before and had chosen to return to human form. He would disappear for long stretches of years, and then return with new ideas and advances to the technology he developed for me and for his own future plans. As he was my direct relative I believe they left him alone, but also there was clear support for him from some of those ascended."

Usoa smiled at the memories of her Uncle and she realised that she missed him deeply, though it was most likely that he had ascended.

"Who was your Uncle exactly?" Doctor McKay asked and she turned to him to see suspicion in his eyes.

She smiled to be able to name her relative. "His name was Myrddin."

There were a few surprised looks. "You know of him?"

"Merlin? Yes, we do and we have a lot to thank him for. If there's time you should probably talk to Doctor Jackson about it."

"Then the Ori did try to take Earth?" Uosa asked.

Shadows crossed their faces and she felt flashes of dark memories, though it was the one named Walker who felt the most.

"Yes, they tried, but we stopped them." The man said with pride and pain. "But, it took its toll."

Uosa took a breath and released it with pride and satisfaction. "I am pleased to learn that my Uncle's work played a role. He never openly engaged in battle against the Wraith with us, it was not his way. But, he was a cornerstone in our successes." Uosa paused reflecting on those days when her father's people had left her fighting force alone at last. She guessed they had either given up on controlling them, now agreed with them or perhaps they had simply forgotten them.

"So, you hunted down all the Wraith over the years?" Someone asked.

"The Wraith somehow became aware that the Ancients were mostly gone from Earth and so they turned their attacks not just on the humans, but on those of us who remained. They began to hunt us as we hunted them. Violent times," Uosa whispered as the memories lingered. "Gradually both sides lost large numbers and eventually there were only five of us left to seek out and destroy over forty Wraith, including the Queen. I made it my personal focus to hunt her down, but with such small numbers we were forced to split up to keep battling the Wraith. I can not remember exactly when I became the last, but I knew that it had been the Queen who had killed the last of my father's people on Earth. The Queen had been crucially injured though and I set off after her."

Teyla's re-telling of the tale meant that she need not to tell them every cut and thrust of the tale, but there was more to the tale than the Wraith had shown Teyla.

"The Queen knew I was following her and laid a trap for me. She had formed a large group of human worshippers and used them to hold an entire village hostage. She promised to kill all the children first, then the strongest men if I did not reveal myself. I chose to walk into the village." The old deep wounds that had long ago healed still seemed to ache with the memories. "The battle was long and very violent. What was fortunate was that the Queen had only been protected by five or so Wraith. I took most of them down and finally reached the Queen." The lingering taste of blood, screams of terrified betrayed humans and the smoke of the burning village all returned to Uosa. "I prevailed," Uosa finished.

The atmosphere over the room was heavy with sympathy and disgust for Wraith, their former fear of her dimming back into respect. She did not require their respect, but she found herself holding it to her and it eased the dark memories.

"With the Queen dead the greatest threat had been neutralised. I had to enter a long cycle of hibernation after that to recover, but my mission had become clear and plain. I set out to track down each and every Wraith, for though they could not breed more without a Queen, Wraith males are still very dangerous. This remaining Wraith was always one of the strongest and he seemed to hold a particular hatred for me. Though, I now wonder if it was his secret plans for the hidden Queen that drove him to try to kill me with such vengeance. He feared no doubt that I would kill the young Queen as I had the old."

"The Wraith were reduced to hiding in forests and abandoned mines. They spread out independently across the planet and regularly entered hibernation to avoid me, but I used their weaknesses against them and then all but this last one remained." Uosa took a breath and turned to the alert faces all focused on her. "Or so I thought."

Her story was complete enough for these people and telling it had brought her in some form of circle, from what had been to what would be necessary now to finally complete her mission. The end was so close she could feel it in the air, but she knew that there was still much to be done.

"So, you're saying you're like ten thousand years old?!" Doctor McKay blurted out.

"I have not been awake for all that time, Doctor McKay," Uosa replied.

His face scrunched up in doubt and confusion. "But, hibernation is a slowing of vital body systems, you would still age."

"And I have, though my Uncle's alterations to hibernation technology and my own knowledge of healing skills has enabled me to last."

"But…you look like…thirty five or something," he still protested.

She inclined her head with amusement.

"But…" he added.

"Rodney," Sheppard warned gently.

"What? It's a valid point!" He replied to Sheppard before turning back to her. "And you're supposedly half human; wouldn't that mean you would age more like a human?"

"Rodney!" Teyla protested.

Uosa did not take offense and instead smiled at the scientist. "Yes." He frowned again. "And no I will not tell you where the hibernation technology is located," she told him with a smile, knowing his concealed need. A guilty look passed over his open face before he hid it behind studied indifference.

"If you wanted to prove your story then seeing this technology would…"

Sheppard leant forward and interrupted Doctor McKay's mutterings. "I think Uosa has proven her side quite clearly, Rodney," he said shutting down the scientists complaints.

"I just think it's worth asking these questions…"

"We can discuss all the questions after we get this Wraith and his new Queen," Sheppard replied and turned his attention back to Uosa. "So, you can track him?"

"I can follow him, but now there is such a great distance between us it will be difficult to reach him in time. He has clearly slipped through your net from earlier, but he is dropping in and out of hibernation, which makes it difficult for me to track him. He will be guarding his thoughts and what he sees very closely, knowing I will be able to see where he is through his own eyes. That there are now humans who are a real threat to him will only add to his caution. Normally I am able to catch up to the Wraith eventually, but time is now of the essence."

Sheppard turned back to Teyla. "You don't have any idea where this Wraith is headed? Where the Queen is?"

Uosa watched Teyla turn her focus inwards, felt her mind stirring. "His memories are old and clouded. I saw a dark damp place, but nothing more helpful."

"If he hasn't been to the location for many hundreds of years, then the location could be quite different," Uosa added. "Humanity has advanced a great deal since I last woke."

"Maybe the Queen is dead?" Ronon suggested.

"No, she lives," Teyla replied instantly. "He is following an instinct that draws him to her, even when she is asleep. If she were dead he would not feel that pull."

Uosa looked to Teyla and saw that she was annoyed at herself for having no more information to supply the group, to supply Sheppard. Uosa looked to the man now, watching him mull over his options.

"Then we need a Queen detector of our own," he said thoughtfully.

"You really think that's wise?" Doctor McKay asked Sheppard, clearly already understanding his friend's thought process.

"He's helped us before and the SGC has already authorised me to use a few walks along the pier each week as a bargaining tool with him."

"Are you referring to the Wraith you hold captive?" Uosa asked worriedly.

"Yes," he replied with a clear edge of defensiveness.

"He is a Wraith," Uosa protested.

"Actually he's helped us out quite a few times and as long as there's something in it for him, he usually comes through for us."

"He may have bargained with you before, but this would be to assist us in hunting down and killing a Queen. It is not in a Wraith's nature to do such a thing."

"He has already killed at least one Wraith Queen that we know of, Uosa," Teyla said with a calming tone.

Uosa turned to the woman and felt the edge of her mind reaching gently towards her, displaying the knowledge that Teyla had actually witnessed that event.

"I know that Wraith kill Wraith, but in these circumstances to involve him might provide him an opportunity to reach a Queen. If he ingratiated himself with her then she would include him into her plan. It is too dangerous to utilise him. His nature would be to serve a Queen, to always have a Queen to serve."

Uosa felt the doubt around the table. Clearly this Wraith they held captive had influenced their opinions greatly in the past.

"Surely it would be more worthwhile for me to simply enter his mind and pull out the information he has on the Queen," Uosa suggested.

Sheppard nodded at that. "Sure it would, but with this Wraith I suspect he hasn't learnt all he can from the other Wraith or the Queen. He will wait till we ask him for help before he picks a side."

Uosa frowned at that.

"Perhaps," Teyla said, "we could ask him to reach the other Wraith's mind and during which Uosa could observe the contact."

"I could perhaps then breach the blocks around the last Wraith's thoughts and plans," Uosa suggested.

"Piggyback your way in," said the quiet doctor seated beside Sheppard. Uosa enjoyed the man's accent for it reminded her of her experiences with those from his home lands. They had been a forceful and powerfully strong people when she had last encountered them.

"Exactly," she replied.

"And if you were to see into Todd's mind at the same time that would simply be an accidental side effect," Sheppard added with a sly smile.

Uosa smiled now seeing his plan. "Yes, unfortunate for him, but useful for us."

The room fell into silence again as all eyes moved between her and Sheppard.

"I'll need to clear this with my superiors and they will need to okay you accompanying us to our home base," Sheppard said carefully.

His mind was purposefully tightly closed and she wondered what it was about his home base that he wished to conceal from her. She allowed him his secrets though, for she required his and his people's cooperation at present. She nodded her agreement.

--------  
TBC


End file.
